Mining and metallurgical activities in N iberia and their link to forest evolution using environmental archives (centuries AD V to XI)

Abstract

Research on palaeoenvironmental archives has challenged the widely accepted view that atmospheric metal pollution started with the Industrial Revolution, by demonstrating that it dates back to the Bronze Age when mining and metallurgical activities spread. These activities and the exploitation of natural resources for metal extraction and smelting involved intense transformation of the landscape from the Iron Age onwards, with forest decline, among others, one of the most common. This paper examines the methodology used for the detection of past atmospheric metal pollution and other environmental impacts associated with mining and metallurgy and reviews the research performed in this field in North Iberia, with special attention to centuries AD V-XI.