TODAY: EGS Seminar – Tuesday 22nd January 2013

Tuesday 22nd January 2013, Room E419, 4th floor, John Dalton East Building, from 1.00-2.00pm.


Palaeopollution and Vegetation Change associated with Early Mining and Metallurgy in the British Isles and Beyond

Tim Mighall, University of Aberdeen

This presentation aims to review the environmental impacts that have occurred as a result of prehistoric and Roman mining and/or metallurgy, based on pollen-analytical and geochemical research from sites in Britain and Ireland. The pollen and geochemical evidence shows a commonality in the nature of the impact across sites in Britain, Ireland and on the European mainland. Woodland impact was negligible during prehistory while more sizeable but ultimately non-permanent impacts are recorded during the Iron Age and Roman period. The lack of substantial woodland clearance is surprising given the estimates for large-scale wood consumption in those mines employing the use of fire-setting. Even though the overall impact on woodlands appears to have been limited, it does not mean that woodland was not exploited during prehistory. Clear impacts are recorded on individual taxa but they vary from site to site.



There are several factors influencing the nature of vegetation change associated with mining, including the natural density of local woodland and the intensity and duration of the mining activity. Major tree and shrub taxa are mainly exploited at each site and the evidence for selectivity of wood fuel is not consistently observed. Variations in the pollen record are complemented by changes in the concentrations of heavy metals determined from the peat profiles. Although there is a common narrative of historical lead and metal pollution across much of Europe, there are, nevertheless, local histories showing important differences, which can be of particular interest for historical and archaeological studies and studies of regional environmental change.