Also, a survey marker will often have a soft metal cap, so that the ‘exact’ position can be marked on the cap. Most survey markets have an indent in the top for a surveyor’s level staff to sit on the exact position. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this was still made of lead

My father did surveying part time to earn extra money. He was quite good at it. He always looked for the metal property markers at corners, hilltops, or on long property lines. Typically they were sections of 1/2 pipe or re-bar.

Furthermore, there are specialized tools like the Schonstedt Maggie (and similar) that are technically magnetic gradiometers -- largely referred to as "pinfinders" -- which are used by legal surveyors to find these buried corner markers on a regular basis. Doesn't help with lead, but anything with iron in it generally works.

To answer your question, yes it was.

Vercingetorix tried to replicate the conditions that led to the Roman defeat at Gergovia: a well fortified city, natural defenses that multiply said entrenchments, calling his allies and flipping Caesar's...

He was largely successfull, but the plan had a massive hole, which was Alesia not being prepared to support the army and population at the same time, plus, Caesar managed to stockpile enough shit to survive a siege.

From that point on the plan fails because V can't get the rescue army fast enough to avoid Caesar from building a double wall, and thus, by the time it arrives it was too late, Caesar had turned what was supposed to be a siege that would stretch and break his supply lines to one that did exactly that to his enemies.

Since metal detection was invented I think metal has been preferred to rock for that reason.

But I think you are right that older markers were generally stone.

couldnt they like chisel a rock with their initials? digging up lead ore from a mine and refining it just to bury it for centuries sounds expensive still.

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

They carried lead along the oregon trail? The heaviest known substance of the time? To...mark corners of peoples home plots????

Please elaborate so this stops sounding crazy

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William of Normandy.

Geoffrey V was a Plantagenet

My property has a steel pin in each corner. Every time the property is sold it must be re-surveyed. Been over 20 years since the last one.

Looking for history books that read like novels. As someone who has consumed fiction exclusively for 30 years, I stumbled on a history book that doesn’t read like a history book. If that makes sense. I now feel like I’ve wasted my entire life and I’m playing catch up. Anything goes.

The expedition passed through my city...in fact, directly past the spot my house is in now...and buried a plate here. It's never been found

Celeron did it too, when he led an expedition in 1749 to strengthen French claims to the Ohio River Valley

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In the 1980s in California I put a lot of 2' lengths of rebar in property corners for new subdivisions and property line disputes in the SF Bay Area. I've seen everything in old surveys from old axles to even a giant pipe wrench once.

A siege, where the Roman army is on the outside is always a bad situation.

Romans KNEW how to besiege a walled city or fortress. They would very quickly put up their own walls locking the defenders inside, and giving themselves unhindered access to all the resources outside.

And they never stop at just putting up pallisades. There's towers, strong gates, ditches and spikes. Layer upon layer of defenses and obstacles that will slow and funnel any breakout.

Vercingetorix lost the moment the first pallisades were put up.

Oversimplifying a lot : Because kings of England were related to the kings of France and saw themselves as the rightful kings of France (see the 100 Years War) hence "mon droit"

other exemple : Richard the Lionheart, king of England, only spoke French and spent most of his time in his French estates or crusading

That wouldn’t surprise me. Things can have decades long backgrounds before they become commonly known.

It definitely wasn’t in use at my school, my internships, or my first couple jobs. It’s interesting that according to Merriam-Webster they didn’t recognize lede as an appropriate variant spelling till 2008. That vibes with my experience trying to stay in the journalism industry.

William Plantagenet--a French noble--took the British crown in 1066. The British royal court spoke French for hundreds of years afterwards.

Have you heard of the Normans? Vous devriez l’ur demander.

Yes. I read the Jesuits or maybe the Diocese of Baltimore did this down the Ohio River Valley.

This page says it was first used in 1965 but I could see it taking a few decades to catch on everywhere.

after a while Vercingetorix forced the noncombatants to leave the city because he run out of food.

AFAIK the died in the no mans land

I meant armies in the field outside of waterways logistic was limited to drawn carts or waggons, the draft animals need to eat

I don't know if its traditional, but lead is basically the least reactive (corroding) non-precious metal. So for applications where metal needs be buried in the ground for a long time, lead is a pretty good candidate for those unconcerned with soil toxicity.

Copper is another but its generally more expensive than lead for non-decorative monuments. Unsecured metal tends to get re-appropriated for other purposes...especially when stored in an inherently insecure place like a property line.

Nowadays, steel meets all the demands without poisoning the salamanders.