ABSTRACT
Lead and silver must be considered together, since about half of the silver produced today comes from lead ores. In antiquity the proportion must have been even higher. Antimony also is associated with lead than with tin or copper although it is often added to pewters, but early pewters were usually leaded. The 16th century marks the introduction of water-powered smelting furnaces probably inspired by German experience. Several small silver ingots of a familiar Roman double-axe shape have now been found in the British Isles. The recovery of the lead after cupellation is carried out by re-smelting the litharge in the same way as the original lead ore, except that it is now a direct reduction process. The lead industry of medieval times was concentrated principally in the Derbyshire and Somerset areas where intensive competition existed. The corrosion of silver in the presence of water containing even slight traces of salt is more rapid than that of lead.
