HISTORY OF ANCIENT COPPER SMELTING POLLUTION DURING ROMAN AND MEDIEVAL TIMES RECORDED IN GREENLAND ICE

Determination of copper concentrations in Greenland ice dated from sev en millennia ago to the present showed values exceeding natural levels , beginning about 2500 years ago. This early large-scale pollution of the atmosphere of the Northern Hemisphere is attributed to emissions f rom the crude, highly polluting smelting technologies used for copper production during Roman and medieval times, especially in Europe and C hina. This study opens the way to a quantitative assessment of the his tory of early metal production, which was instrumental in the developm ent of human cultures during ancient eras.