summary:

This article examines the role of lead in curse tablets. After surveying the status quaestionis, it suggests that the preference for lead in curse-writing had little to do with the material's cheapness or obtainability, and everything to do with its social utility and physicality. Lead appealed for use in curse-writing because of the material's association with acts of fastening and restraining; common uses of lead as a binding-agent added metonymic force to the ritual act of "binding-down" rivals and wrongdoers. Lead's physical properties also made it apt for use in curse-writing, more so than other media.

中文翻译：

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冷酷无情：铅在诅咒片中的作用

概括：

本文研究了铅在诅咒片中的作用。在调查了状态现状之后，它表明在诅咒写作中对铅的偏爱与材料的便宜性或可获得性几乎没有关系，而与材料的社会效用和物理性息息相关。铅因其与紧固和约束行为有关而呼吁用于诅咒写作；铅作为约束剂的常见用法为“约束”竞争对手和不法分子的仪式行为增加了转喻力。铅的物理特性也使其更适合用于诅咒写作，比其他媒体更是如此。