Identifying the sources and timing of ancient and medieval atmospheric lead pollution in England using a peat profile from Lindow bog, Manchester†
Abstract
A peat core from Lindow bog near Manchester, England, was precisely cut into 2 cm slices to provide a high-resolution reconstruction of atmospheric Pb deposition. Radiocarbon and 210Pb age dates show that the peat core represents the period ca. 2000 BC to AD 1800. Eleven radiocarbon age dates of bulk peat samples reveal a linear age–depth relationship with an average temporal resolution of 18.5 years per cm, or 37 years per sample. Using the Pb/Ti ratio to calculate the rates of anthropogenic, atmospheric Pb deposition, the profile reveals Pb contamination first appearing in peat samples dating from ca. 900 BC which clearly pre-date Roman mining activities. Using