Greenland Ice Evidence of Hemispheric Lead Pollution Two Millennia Ago by Greek and Roman Civilizations

Abstract

Analysis of the Greenland ice core covering the period from 3000 to 500 years ago-the Greek, Roman, Medieval and Renaissance times-shows that lead is present at concentrations four times as great as natural values from about 2500 to 1700 years ago (500 B.C. to 300 A.D.). These results show that Greek and Roman lead and silver mining and smelting activities polluted the middle troposphere of the Northern Hemisphere on a hemispheric scale two millennia ago, long before the Industrial Revolution. Cumulative lead fallout to the Greenland Ice Sheet during these eight centuries was as high as 15 percent of that caused by the massive use of lead alkyl additives in gasoline since the 1930s. Pronounced lead pollution is also observed during Medieval and Renaissance times.

(Pre-) historic changes in natural and anthropogenic heavy metals deposition inferred from two contrasting Swiss Alpine lakes

“…As a matter of fact, great increase in Pb depositions successively highlight the impact of the extensive mining industry during the Greek and Roman periods (from ca 300 BC to AD 400), the Late Middle Ages (ca AD 1400), the Early Modern Europe (after ca 1600), and the Industrial Revolution (after ca 1850). Pre-industrial anthropogenic Pb deposition at high altitude in the Southern Alps strongly resembles that deposited onto the Greenland ice sheet, pointing to the homogeneous pollution of the Northern hemisphere sustained by long-range transport of air pollutants from mid-latitude regions (Hong et al, 1994). Such results are in agreement with the intercontinental transport of Saharan mineral dust that occasionally reaches Summit Greenland (Thevenon et al, 2010b).…”

Widespread pollution of the South American atmosphere predates the industrial revolution by 240 y

“…Increases in the concentration of both lead (Pb) and copper (Cu) in ice cores recovered from Greenland (8,9) and of antimony (Sb), arsenic (As), and bismuth (Bi) in ice cores from the Canadian Arctic (10,11) caused by anthropogenic activities as early as 500 B.C. have been noted.…”

“…have been noted. Preindustrial Pb concentration increases in Greenland have been linked to Pb mining and smelting performed in the Mediterranean region during the Greek, Roman, and Medieval periods (8,12), indicating the hemispheric-scale impact of early anthropogenic activities. In contrast, ice cores recovered from midlatitudes provide evidence for anthropogenic aerosol emissions from the late 19th century in the European Alps (13,14) and from the middle of the 20th century in the Himalaya (6,15).…”

Environmental impacts of ancient copper mining and metallurgy: Multi-proxy investigation of human-landscape dynamics in the Faynan valley, southern Jordan

“…Previous environmental studies of pollution from ancient metallurgy have noted the relationship between an increased regional and global output of toxic chemicals and the intensification of production that coincides with the growing political and economic complexity of ancient states and empires (Cooke et al, 2008;Grattan et al, 2007;Hong et al, 1994;Jouffroy-Bapicot et al, 2007;Karlsson et al, 2015;McFarlane et al, 2014;Mighall et al, 2014;Nriagu, 1996). While this is certainly the case in a broad sense, increasingly sophisticated archaeological and environmental methods for geochemical analysis and chronological determinations have opened the doors for more nuanced explanations of landscape degradation that account for coupled human and natural impacts (Romey et al, 2015), site abandonment processes (Iavazzo et al, 2011), and economic and land-use practices (LopezMerino et al, 2014).…”