Ingot

Metal cast into a particular shape, determined by custom rather than function, for trade. Often it will be of a standard weight, sometimes of a guaranteed purity. Examples include the ingot of the Mycenaeans (c. 30kg of copper) in the shape of an ox-hide, the bronze ingot torc of the European Bronze Age, the iron currency bar of the English Iron Age and the Roman lead pig stamped with the smelters name. Bronze Age ingots have been found in Buckinghamshire, for instance at Lodge Hill. A Roman ingot was found at Putlowes in Fleet Marston.