Lead pollution recorded in Greenland ice indicates European emissions tracked plagues, wars, and imperial expansion during antiquity

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Joseph R McConnellJørgen Peder Steffensen

Abstract

Lead pollution in Arctic ice reflects midlatitude emissions from ancient lead-silver mining and smelting. The few reported measurements have been extrapolated to infer the performance of ancient economies, including comparisons of economic productivity and growth during the Roman Republican and Imperial periods. These studies were based on sparse sampling and inaccurate dating, limiting understanding of trends and specific linkages. Here we show, using a precisely dated record of estimated lead emissions between 1100 BCE and 800 CE derived from subannually resolved measurements in Greenland ice and detailed atmospheric transport modeling, that annual European lead emissions closely varied with historical events, including imperial expansion, wars, and major plagues. Emissions rose coeval with Phoenician expansion, accelerated during expanded Carthaginian and Roman mining primarily in the Iberian Peninsula, and reached a maximum under the Roman Empire. Emissions fluctuated synchronously with wars and political instability particularly during the Roman Republic, and plunged coincident with two major plagues in the second and third centuries, remaining low for >500 years. Bullion in silver coinage declined in parallel, reflecting ...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jul 10, 2019·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Joseph R McConnellJørgen Peder Steffensen
May 12, 2020·Microbial Genomics·Arwyn EdwardsSara M E Rassner
May 1, 2019·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Hugo DelileAndrew I Wilson
Sep 30, 2020·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Victoria C SmithEduardo Gutiérrez
Jun 24, 2020·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Joseph R McConnellJørgen Peder Steffensen
Feb 12, 2020·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Paolo GabrielliLonnie G Thompson
Jun 3, 2020·Molecules : a Journal of Synthetic Chemistry and Natural Product Chemistry·Changhee HanSungmin Hong
Oct 18, 2020·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Amr El-Sayed, Mohamed Kamel
Dec 3, 2020·Scientific Reports·Jack LongmanDaniel Veres
Aug 28, 2020·The Science of the Total Environment·F Carvalho, L Schulte
Feb 3, 2021·Environmental Research·Kate E SmithPhilippe Claeys
Mar 27, 2021·Environmental Science & Technology·Meri M RuppelÖrjan Gustafsson
Jan 12, 2020·The Science of the Total Environment·Olalla López-CostasAntonio Martínez Cortizas
Jun 8, 2021·The Science of the Total Environment·Zhilin ZhongShiming Ding
Jul 23, 2019·Environmental Science & Technology·Gaël Le RouxWilliam Shotyk
Oct 8, 2021·Nature·Joseph R McConnellAlberto J Aristarain
Nov 3, 2021·Environmental Science & Technology·Yigal ErelLiran Carmel

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