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Traditional Mallorcan object

Romana (steelyard balance)

At a glance

Unequal arms balance. What is weighed hangs from the short arm; a weight, the piló, runs along the long arm until it balances (DCVB). The scale of the farm…

Objects and tools
Traditional Mallorcan object
Words
ganxos de romana, La Romana, piló, romana, «No treure romana», «Puja es xot a sa romana, i tot d'una diu: Tant val»
Events
2
Roman Scale II-IV BCjpg
Roman Scale II-IV BCjpg — Joseolgon, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

What is

Unequal arms balance. What is weighed hangs from the short arm; a weight, the piló, runs along the long arm until it balances (DCVB). The scale of the farm, the market and the slaughterhouse.

How is

  • Graduated iron bar (long arm).
  • Piló: mobile weight.
  • Roman hooks: two curved iron hooks. One hangs what is weighed; the other holds the Roman (DCVB).
  • Some have two scales, for small and large weights (to verify in Mallorcan specimens).

How is fa

  • Ferro forjat forging; The graduation makes it a faithful contrast (trade, to verify in Mallorca).

Com s'usa

  • It is hung from a beam or a stick between two people.
  • Bags of almonds and garrova, the pig from Matances, the lamb to sell are weighed.
  • In Mallorca, Roman is also the car brake: a set of levers that tightens the wheel on descents (DCVB, Mall.).

Vocabulary

  • Roman — Roman balance.
  • piló — sliding weight.
  • Roman hooks — the two hooks.
  • Roman (Mall.) — chariot brake.
  • «No treure Roman» — weigh very little (Mall.).
  • "Puja es xot a sa Roman, i tot d'una diu: Tant val" — it is said of those who calculate quickly and have a good eye (Manacor).
  • La Romana — hamlet in the municipality of Calvià.

History

  • 1375: «romana or calastó e quintars» (doc. from Barcelona, ​​DCVB).
  • 1388: «romana e piló, stimat tot per dues doubles» (BSAL, DCVB): in a Mallorcan inventory.
  • 20th century: the platform scale and electronics replaced it; the Romana is still in markets and farms (to verify).

On veure'n

Why is it design

  • Custom-made lever: no set of weights needed; A single battery is good for everything.
  • Portable: a bar and two hooks weigh a pig in the middle of the field.
  • Direct reading: the scale is engraved on the arm itself.

For the project

  • The Roman as a graphic icon of "measuring value" in the peasant economy.
  • The Manacor saying as a piece text.

Frequently asked questions

What is Romana (steelyard balance)?

Unequal arms balance. What is weighed hangs from the short arm; a weight, the piló, runs along the long arm until it balances (DCVB). The scale of the farm…

What are the traditional words for Romana (steelyard balance)?

Some words: ganxos de romana, La Romana, piló, romana, «No treure romana», «Puja es xot a sa romana, i tot d'una diu: Tant val».

Sources

Working text from the Disseny Indígena knowledge base, machine-translated from Spanish.

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