Samples collected from the bottom of the Aegean Sea demonstrate that lead pollution in the Aegean area began much earlier than it was believed, and the main culprits for this are the Greeks and Romanians.
Plum pollution in the Aegean Sea started about 5,200 years ago. Photo: Facebook
A recent study, conducted by several German research centers led by the University of Heidelberg and published on Thursday, reached a surprising conclusion: the contamination of the lead environment in the Aegean region began about 5,200 years ago, about 1,200 years earlier than. According to scientists, one of the factors that contributed significantly to the human pollution of this area was the expansion of the Roman Empire in ancient Greece.
Research, based on studying evidence collected from the bottom of the Aegean Sea, shows that people have contaminated the lead environment in an early era of antiquity, first of Greek civilization and then by the powerful Roman Empire, notes Agerpres.
During the study, researchers coordinated by Andreas Koutodandris, from Heidelberg University, measured the level of lead from 14 marine sediment samples between 2001 and 2021 in the Aegean, in the coastal regions of this sea and in the marshy area (turbuard) Tenaghi Philippon from northeastern Greece.
In order to form an overview of how it affected the lead pollution, they analyzed the pollen content and increases from several samples and combined it with the data on lead content.
Thus, scientists have found that the first indication of probable lead contamination caused by man dates about 5,200 years ago in the Tenaghi Philippon nucleus. This means that the pollution of the area has started about 1,200 years earlier compared to the period indicated by the first evidence of lead contamination attributed to the human activity recorded so far in the disturbances of the Balkan Peninsula.
“And since lead was released, among others, during silver production, the evidence of increased lead concentrations in the environment is at the same time an important indicator of socio-economic change.” explained the head of the research team, Andreas Koutodandris.
Based on the same analysis, a recognition of the way of developing the vegetation in the Aegean region was possible, because the amount of pollen indicates how the Earth was used.
According to the results, during the Roman expansion in ancient Greece, about 2,150 years ago, a significant concentration of lead, which was accompanied by intense deforestation, appeared. This period was marked by a significant increase in gold, silver and other metals to be used in coins and other articles, an activity that at the same time requires large amounts of wood.
“These changes coincide with the conquest of Greek Greece by the Romans, who later claimed for themselves the rich resources of the region”, said Joseph Maran, an archaeologist co -author.
“This is the first global record of lead contamination in the ocean caused by man,” completed Andreas Koutsodendris on his colleague.
As a conclusion, the authors of the study estimate in conclusions that, practically, the first probable contamination with lead in a marine environment took place in the Aegean.
