Yagel Omri, Greener Aaron, Ondricek Willie, Ben-Yosef Erez
Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Sci Rep. 2024 Nov 29;14(1):29675. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-80939-5.
Among the unresolved questions about pre-Roman metallurgical industries are the extent and severity of the pollution they produced and the potential harm inflicted on the societies associated with them. Research on this topic has resulted in conflicting conclusions. Based on measurements of heavy metal enrichment in soils, archaeological sediments, plants and skeletal remains, interpretations have varied between catastrophic, global (intercontinental) effects to a restricted impact relevant only to those directly working at the furnaces. In the current study we focus on Timna Valley in the Southern Arabah (southern Israel). Based on high-resolution pXRF geochemical surveys of two smelting camps from different periods, accompanied by test excavations, we demonstrate that (1) mapping elemental concentrations in soil is an effective tool for identifying and characterizing various activity areas in archaeological sites, such as metal production, livestock penning and domestic and industrial waste disposal; (2) in Timna, the intra-site organization of production and scale of metallurgical activities changed substantially between the Early Bronze Age and the Iron Age; (3) the heavy metal enrichment (Cu/Pb) of soil due to smelting is spatially discrete, concentrated only in areas directly associated with these activities; and (4) this enrichment aligns with the spatial distribution of metallurgical waste, suggesting that lead emission to the atmosphere was minimal and that the documented heavy metals are not bioavailable. Our results, combined with a comprehensive survey of previously published data, support the minimalist interpretation of the polluting effects of metallurgical activities on ancient societies, at least for pre-Roman copper production industries.
关于罗马前冶金工业，尚未解决的问题包括它们产生的污染程度和严重性，以及对与之相关的社会造成的潜在危害。对这一主题的研究得出了相互矛盾的结论。基于对土壤、考古沉积物、植物和骨骼遗骸中重金属富集情况的测量，其解释从灾难性的全球（洲际）影响到仅与那些直接在熔炉工作的人相关的有限影响各不相同。在当前的研究中，我们聚焦于南阿拉巴（以色列南部）的蒂姆纳山谷。基于对不同时期的两个冶炼营地进行的高分辨率pXRF地球化学调查，并辅以试掘，我们证明：（1）绘制土壤中的元素浓度图是识别和表征考古遗址中各种活动区域的有效工具，如金属生产、牲畜圈养以及家庭和工业废物处理区域；（2）在蒂姆纳，从青铜时代早期到铁器时代，遗址内的生产组织和冶金活动规模发生了显著变化；（3）由于冶炼导致的土壤重金属富集（铜/铅）在空间上是离散的，仅集中在与这些活动直接相关的区域；（4）这种富集与冶金废物的空间分布一致，表明向大气中的铅排放极少，并且记录的重金属不可生物利用。我们的结果，结合对先前发表数据的全面调查，支持了冶金活动对古代社会污染影响的极简主义解释，至少对于罗马前的铜生产行业是如此。
