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johnpseudonym t1_j7ci6gt wrote

For what it's worth, I owned a 1912 house in Chicago for about 20 years and found out that the property parcels were once delineated by burying slabs of lead. I found mine out buried by the alley - it was maybe 6" x 12" x 1/2 " and weighed a ton - but none of the my other neighbors were able to find/still had theirs. Just FYI.

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whyenn OP t1_j7cmhoy wrote

So a hundred years ago a form of this was still being used? That's fascinating. There's got to be some sort of documentation of this on the internet somewhere.

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paleo_joe t1_j7rj24s wrote

I dunno. There is a LOT of old knowledge that no one has published on the internet and is found only in books.

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wakka55 t1_j7daljs wrote

They mined and purified this extremely heavy substance just to bury it for someone centuries later to dig up? tf were they thinking

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Lybychick t1_j7dk2po wrote

This very heavy substance that was used in a variety of manners throughout the home and farm … inside plumbing was sealed with lead, firearms used lead projectiles, fishermen used lead weights, etc. Lead can be easily melted and shaped and imprinted with wording.

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_Rainer_ t1_j7dziq0 wrote

They were traditionally buried so they wouldn't be disturbed. They'd record its position and then put it deep enough that people weren't likely to disturb it with a plow or things like that.

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