Period Lead Pencils.

Some pencils were lead, hammered out of a musket ball, but pencils using graphite (also refered to as lead and black lead) existed during the 16th century. I am still searching for images, and have only come across one so far.

The one above was found on a house beam in a 17th century house in Germany. Quite possibly a carpenter's pencil.

This is one I have created from a modern carpenter's pencil.

I shall keep researching the pencil because I feel there is still more to learn. I can tell you that the first graphite was found, or at least recognised, in the township of Barrowdale in Cumbria in England. A tree was blown over in the town, and a passer-by spotted a black mass in the roots of the tree. It was said to feel greasy. The locals soon started using it for marking their sheep, later it was mined for pencil making. It is said that the first graphite pencils were simply bound in cordage to keep the graphite from marking the hands.