Environmental impact of early palaeometallurgy: pollen and geochemical analysis

Isabelle Jouffroy-Bapicot (1) , Maria Pulido (2) , Sandrine Baron (3) , Didier Galop (4) , Fabrice Monna (5) , Martin Lavoie (2) , Alain Ploquin (3) , Christophe Petit (5) , Jacques-Louis de Beaulieu (2) , Hervé Richard (1)

1 LCE - Laboratoire de chrono-écologie - CNRS (UMR6565)
2 IMEP - Institut Méditerranéen d'Ecologie et de Paléoécologie
3 CRPG - Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques
4 GEODE - Géographie de l'environnement
5 ACS - Archéologies, Cultures et Sociétés

Interdisciplinary research was carried out in mid-level mountain areas in France with the aim of documenting historical mining and smelting activities by means of pollen and geochemical analyses. These investigations were made on cores collected in French peatlands in the Morvan (northern Massif Central), at Mont Lozère (southern Massif Central) and in the Basque Country (Pyrénées). Different periods of mining were recognised from Prehistory to modern times through the presence of anthropogenic lead in peat. Some of these were already known from archaeological dates or historical archives, especially for mediaeval and modern periods. However prehistoric ancient mining activities, as early as the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1700 b.c.), were also discovered. They had all led to modifications in plant cover, probably related in part to forest clearance necessary to supply energy for mining and smelting.

Mots clés: Peatland; Pollen analysis; Lead isotopes; France; Palaeometallurgy; Pollution

Domaines: Environnement et Société

Isabelle Jouffroy-Bapicot, Maria Pulido, Sandrine Baron, Didier Galop, Fabrice Monna, et al.. Environmental impact of early palaeometallurgy: pollen and geochemical analysis. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 2007, 16 (4), pp.251-258. ⟨10.1007/s00334-006-0039-9⟩. ⟨hal-00332036⟩