Lead in ancient Rome's city waters
Lead in ancient Rome's city waters
It is now universally accepted that utilization of lead for domestic purposes and water distribution presents a major health hazard. The ancient Roman world was unaware of these risks. How far the gigantic network of lead pipes used in ancient Rome compromised public health in the city is unknown. Lead isotopes in sediments from the harbor of Imperial Rome register the presence of a strong anthropogenic component during the beginning of the Common Era and the Early Middle Ages. They demonstrate that the lead pipes of the water distribution system increased Pb contents in drinking water of the capital city by up to two orders of magnitude over the natural background. The Pb isotope record shows that the discontinuities in the pollution of the Tiber by lead are intimately entwined with the major issues affecting Late Antique Rome and its water distribution system.
harbor geoarcheology, paleopollution, late holocene, ore provenance, sedimentology
6594-6599
Delile, Hugo
343be332-c4ad-4b81-8dfe-d887de5228ab
Blichert-Toft, Janne
1233dd64-ec6b-4649-8e62-f8ca896810ad
Goiran, Jeanne-Philippe
4259a682-2243-4a8c-bcf1-09196e4b1a15
Keay, Simon
52b4cdfd-fc5e-4fa0-bd3e-8dd896624f41
Albarede, Francis
07c6d833-79ee-4ef2-a9d5-280b418d3d60
6 May 2014
Delile, Hugo
343be332-c4ad-4b81-8dfe-d887de5228ab
Blichert-Toft, Janne
1233dd64-ec6b-4649-8e62-f8ca896810ad
Goiran, Jeanne-Philippe
4259a682-2243-4a8c-bcf1-09196e4b1a15
Keay, Simon
52b4cdfd-fc5e-4fa0-bd3e-8dd896624f41
Albarede, Francis
07c6d833-79ee-4ef2-a9d5-280b418d3d60
Delile, Hugo, Blichert-Toft, Janne, Goiran, Jeanne-Philippe, Keay, Simon and Albarede, Francis
(2014)
Lead in ancient Rome's city waters.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111 (18), .
(doi:10.1073/pnas.1400097111).
Abstract
It is now universally accepted that utilization of lead for domestic purposes and water distribution presents a major health hazard. The ancient Roman world was unaware of these risks. How far the gigantic network of lead pipes used in ancient Rome compromised public health in the city is unknown. Lead isotopes in sediments from the harbor of Imperial Rome register the presence of a strong anthropogenic component during the beginning of the Common Era and the Early Middle Ages. They demonstrate that the lead pipes of the water distribution system increased Pb contents in drinking water of the capital city by up to two orders of magnitude over the natural background. The Pb isotope record shows that the discontinuities in the pollution of the Tiber by lead are intimately entwined with the major issues affecting Late Antique Rome and its water distribution system.
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e-pub ahead of print date: 21 April 2014
Published date: 6 May 2014
Keywords:
harbor geoarcheology, paleopollution, late holocene, ore provenance, sedimentology
Organisations:
Archaeology
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 364568
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/364568
ISSN: 0027-8424
PURE UUID: 4e8bb497-e561-4bfb-833b-63a1ebc50d30
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Date deposited: 07 May 2014 10:25
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 16:37
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Author:
Hugo Delile
Author:
Janne Blichert-Toft
Author:
Jeanne-Philippe Goiran
Author:
Francis Albarede
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