Guide to the identification of archaeological lead cloth seals
Abstract:
In Hungary, lead cloth seals have gained increasing recognition by those in the profession as well as the interested public outside of it. These small metal objects were the trademarks indicating the origin and brand of textile products in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period, which ensured buyers that they were purchasing high-quality goods produced where the mark indicated. Behind the spectacular emergence of the importance of these finds is that before the appearance and general spread of metal detectors, there were only a few dozen of these seals known from the Carpathian Basin. Even these were often in private ownership and the scholarly literature hardly talked about them. This situation changed radically starting in the 1990s, when the number of finds increased by leaps and bounds, as well as in 2011 when the attention of the colleagues was drawn to these finds due to the excavations at Pápa. Since then, Hungarian research into lead seals has been trying to catch up to the level abroad, and we can state without modesty that this has met with success.