Summary
One of the major changes related to the expansion of Roman rule across Europe was related to the intensification of the exploitation and use of metals. The scale of this phenomenon was so big that the pollution signal has been recognised to occur even at a hemispherical level. However, establishing the local narratives behind this broad phenomenon is still problematic due to the inherent limitations of mining archaeology and palaeoenvironmental approaches. This paper offers a systematic review of metal palaeopollution records from ice, lake sediment and peat cores located in Europe and Greenland. Of the 89 cores reviewed within this work, 81 showed a discernible characteristic lead peak in Roman times. Of those, 44 were interpreted to reflect a macroregional (hemispherical) pollution signal, another 22 as resulting from a local pollution source, and 6 showed contrasting evidence pointing towards both regional and local sources. Some of the local signals were identified by a lead isotope match with local ores, but in more uncertain cases the interplay between palaeoenvironmental and archaeological work was essential in order to attribute a local origin to the detected pollution trend. From this review, we conclude that the principal limitations in mining archaeology (establishing a chronology) and palaeopollution reconstructions (determining a source) can be overcome by considering in conjunction with the information provided by both approaches.
Keywords
Palaeopollution. Roman Period. Mining. Metals.