Centre for Urban Network Evolutions (UrbNet), Aarhus University, Højbjerg, Højbjerg, Denmark.
Department of Geoscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark.
PLoS One. 2021 Jun 9;16(6):e0251923. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251923. eCollection 2021.
Roman metal use and related extraction activities resulted in heavy metal pollution and contamination, in particular of Pb near ancient mines and harbors, as well as producing a global atmospheric impact. New evidence from ancient Gerasa (Jerash), Jordan, suggests that small-scale but intense Roman, Byzantine and Umayyad period urban, artisanal, and everyday site activities contributed to substantial heavy metal contamination of the city and its hinterland wadi, even though no metal mining took place and hardly any lead water pipes were used. Distribution of heavy metal contaminants, especially Pb, observed in the urban soils and sediments within this ancient city and its hinterland wadi resulted from aeolian, fluvial, cultural and post-depositional processes. These represent the contamination pathways of an ancient city-hinterland setting and reflect long-term anthropogenic legacies at local and regional scales beginning in the Roman period. Thus, urban use and re-use of heavy metal sources should be factored into understanding historical global-scale contaminant distributions.
罗马金属的使用和相关的开采活动导致了重金属污染和污染，特别是在古代矿山和港口附近的 Pb，以及产生全球性的大气影响。来自约旦古代杰拉什（杰拉什）的新证据表明，小规模但集中的罗马、拜占庭和伍麦叶时期的城市、手工艺和日常场所活动导致城市及其内陆瓦迪的重金属严重污染，尽管没有进行金属开采，几乎没有使用铅水管。在这座古城及其内陆瓦迪的城市土壤和沉积物中观察到的重金属污染物，尤其是 Pb 的分布，是由风成、河流、文化和沉积后过程造成的。这些代表了古代城市-腹地环境的污染途径，反映了从罗马时期开始在地方和区域尺度上的长期人为遗产。因此，在理解历史上的全球范围污染物分布时，应该考虑城市对重金属来源的使用和再利用。
