An international team of scientists has discovered traces of lead pollution in the Balkan Peninsula, dating back to 3600 BC. According to researchers, this was the result of the emergence of metallurgy in Europe, which marked the beginning of the Bronze Age in the region. At the same time, Serbia during the Dark Ages and the Middle Ages remained a technologically advanced center. This was announced in a press release on Phys.org.
When metal is smelted from ore, microscopic lead particles are released into the atmosphere, which are carried by the wind over long distances. When they enter peat bogs, they are deposited, forming layers that reflect the level of development of metallurgy in a particular period of time. Until now, the earliest traces of heavy metal pollution date back to 3000 BC and were in southern Spain.
Scientists have performed a geochemical analysis of samples taken from the Crveni Potok peat bog in Serbia. It turned out that the first signs of lead pollution as a result of human activities appeared 5600 years ago, and after 600 BC and until 1600 AD, a uniform increase in the metal content was observed in peat. Researchers have identified peaks in lead concentration corresponding to the era of ancient Rome, as well as a relative increase in pollution levels after the fall of the Roman Empire. The latter indicates that metallurgy continued to develop in Serbia, using the Roman technique of smelting ores.
Earlier it was believed that the Europeans, after the disappearance of Ancient Rome, turned into groups of technologically backward tribes. However, new data show that at least part of Europeans retained knowledge of mining until the end of the Middle Ages.