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Aldborough and the metals economy of northern England, c. AD 345–1700: a new post-Roman narrative

Aldborough and the metals economy of northern England, c. AD 345–1700: a new post-Roman narrative
Aldborough and the metals economy of northern England, c. AD 345–1700: a new post-Roman narrative
Increasing interdisciplinary analysis of geoarchaeological records, including sediment and ice cores, permits finer-scale contextual interpretation of the history of anthropogenic environmental impacts. In an interdisciplinary approach to economic history, the authors examine metal pollutants in a sediment core from the Roman metal-producing centre of Aldborough, North Yorkshire, combining this record with textual and archaeological evidence from the region. Finding that fluctuations in pollution correspond with sociopolitical events, pandemics and recorded trends in British metal production c. AD 1100–1700, the authors extend the analysis to earlier periods that lack written records, providing a new post-Roman economic narrative for northern England.
Britain, North Yorkshire, Roman, medieval, ICP-MS, pollution, lead production, iron production
0003-598X
1320 - 1340
Loveluck, Christopher
94be575d-ebfb-4d26-9eca-0f16bc3220f6
Millett, Martin
872fe0f9-7282-4670-a2dc-d426ef78f0dd
Chenery, Simon
73aa079a-5379-45cd-83cb-524942a22ad5
Chenery, Carolyn
c822bd52-377b-4622-8e28-d5d65f4360af
Ferraby, Rose
9eb81982-6ed7-4242-a75e-55842acab477
French, Charles
3808988d-5134-45bd-b0f6-ea9ec482030b
Langdon, Catherine
628b8ce9-a413-4ebb-924f-fbeb7193a021
Moore, Fiona
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Pears, Ben
36d04a0f-6948-4e68-8f60-3a2a54d70bd0
Scaife, Rob
b258b25f-818e-4f20-aad8-bc17e170e6b5
Toms, Phil
a2df4b86-b506-48dd-a40d-7b636c91f71d
Loveluck, Christopher
94be575d-ebfb-4d26-9eca-0f16bc3220f6
Millett, Martin
872fe0f9-7282-4670-a2dc-d426ef78f0dd
Chenery, Simon
73aa079a-5379-45cd-83cb-524942a22ad5
Chenery, Carolyn
c822bd52-377b-4622-8e28-d5d65f4360af
Ferraby, Rose
9eb81982-6ed7-4242-a75e-55842acab477
French, Charles
3808988d-5134-45bd-b0f6-ea9ec482030b
Langdon, Catherine
628b8ce9-a413-4ebb-924f-fbeb7193a021
Moore, Fiona
6ba36a45-3b63-4bb8-9b7a-7bef1f8b74d4
Pears, Ben
36d04a0f-6948-4e68-8f60-3a2a54d70bd0
Scaife, Rob
b258b25f-818e-4f20-aad8-bc17e170e6b5
Toms, Phil
a2df4b86-b506-48dd-a40d-7b636c91f71d

Loveluck, Christopher, Millett, Martin, Chenery, Simon, Chenery, Carolyn, Ferraby, Rose, French, Charles, Langdon, Catherine, Moore, Fiona, Pears, Ben, Scaife, Rob and Toms, Phil (2025) Aldborough and the metals economy of northern England, c. AD 345–1700: a new post-Roman narrative. Antiquity, 99 (407), 1320 - 1340. (doi:10.15184/aqy.2025.10175).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Increasing interdisciplinary analysis of geoarchaeological records, including sediment and ice cores, permits finer-scale contextual interpretation of the history of anthropogenic environmental impacts. In an interdisciplinary approach to economic history, the authors examine metal pollutants in a sediment core from the Roman metal-producing centre of Aldborough, North Yorkshire, combining this record with textual and archaeological evidence from the region. Finding that fluctuations in pollution correspond with sociopolitical events, pandemics and recorded trends in British metal production c. AD 1100–1700, the authors extend the analysis to earlier periods that lack written records, providing a new post-Roman economic narrative for northern England.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 2025
e-pub ahead of print date: 11 September 2025
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd.
Keywords: Britain, North Yorkshire, Roman, medieval, ICP-MS, pollution, lead production, iron production

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 505767
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/505767
ISSN: 0003-598X
PURE UUID: cabb4db5-2d31-4ec9-9d1e-8c296c084cee
ORCID for Ben Pears: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2124-2514

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Date deposited: 17 Oct 2025 16:48
Last modified: 18 Oct 2025 01:53

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Contributors

Author: Christopher Loveluck
Author: Martin Millett
Author: Simon Chenery
Author: Carolyn Chenery
Author: Rose Ferraby
Author: Charles French
Author: Fiona Moore
Author: Ben Pears ORCID iD
Author: Rob Scaife
Author: Phil Toms

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