Pencils began as sticks of graphite wrapped tightly in a string and eventually evolved into graphite inserts in wood. The residents of the town of Borrowdale found bits of the hard, black mineral around a tree that was ideal for making marks. Graphite was originally mined in England in the 1500s. Instead, they are filled with a mineral called graphite, which is completely non-toxic and can be adjusted to fit a range of light and dark values. However, modern pencils do not contain any traces of this toxic element.
Lead was used in an ancient Roman tool called a stylus, and pencil lead is a result of the association to that idea. It may be called pencil lead, but the modern pencil does not actually contain lead. The most important part of your pencil is the pencil lead.
