An imperial legacy? An exploration of the environmental impact of ancient metal mining and smelting in southern Jordan

Extensive wastes from the copper mining and smelting activities of the Naba tean, Roman and Byzantine periods in the Wadi Faynan in the southern Jordan ian desert continue to exert a profound influence upon the environment, mai nly through processes of bioaccumulation. It is suggested that in antiquity both producers and consumers (plants and animals) would have similarly bee n subjected to enhanced bioaccumulation of potentially toxic heavy metals s uch as lead and cooper, whose consequences are explored in this account.