Steelyard Balance from Greece: 7th century AD

The copper-alloy steelyard balance is in the form of a beam of rectangular cross-section. The terminals of the beam are shaped like animal heads, a lioness and a boar. This is the second largest Roman steelyard weight ever to be found, and comes from the Greek island of Donoussa. The largest one was found in a shipwreck, suggesting they were used on board ship.

Steelyards were used from at least the 1st century BC and survive as a weighing device to the present day.
 

© 1998 Oxfordshire Museum Service, Setúbal Museums and the Benaki Museum