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Earliest evidence of pollution by heavy metals in archaeological sites.

ABSTRACT: Homo species were exposed to a new biogeochemical environment when they began to occupy caves. Here we report the first evidence of palaeopollution through geochemical analyses of heavy metals in four renowned archaeological caves of the Iberian Peninsula spanning the last million years of human evolution. Heavy metal contents reached high values due to natural (guano deposition) and anthropogenic factors (e.g. combustion) in restricted cave environments. The earliest anthropogenic pollution evidence is related to Neanderthal hearths from Gorham's Cave (Gibraltar), being one of the first milestones in the so-called "Anthropocene". According to its heavy metal concentration, these sediments meet the present-day standards of "contaminated soil". Together with the former, the Gibraltar Vanguard Cave, shows Zn and Cu pollution ubiquitous across highly anthropic levels pointing to these elements as potential proxies for human activities. Pb concentrations in Magdalenian and Bronze age levels at El Pirulejo site can be similarly interpreted. Despite these high pollution levels, the contaminated soils might not have posed a major threat to Homo populations. Altogether, the data presented here indicate a long-term exposure of Homo to these elements, via fires, fumes and their ashes, which could have played certain role in environmental-pollution tolerance, a hitherto neglected influence.

SUBMITTER: Monge G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4585679 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Earliest evidence of pollution by heavy metals in archaeological sites.

Monge Guadalupe G Jimenez-Espejo Francisco J FJ García-Alix Antonio A Martínez-Ruiz Francisca F Mattielli Nadine N Finlayson Clive C Ohkouchi Naohiko N Sánchez Miguel Cortés MC de Castro Jose María Bermúdez JM Blasco Ruth R Rosell Jordi J Carrión José J Rodríguez-Vidal Joaquín J Finlayson Geraldine G

Scientific reports 20150921

Homo species were exposed to a new biogeochemical environment when they began to occupy caves. Here we report the first evidence of palaeopollution through geochemical analyses of heavy metals in four renowned archaeological caves of the Iberian Peninsula spanning the last million years of human evolution. Heavy metal contents reached high values due to natural (guano deposition) and anthropogenic factors (e.g. combustion) in restricted cave environments. The earliest anthropogenic pollution evi ...[more]

PMID: 26388184

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Project description:It is necessary to establish local geochemical baseline concentrations (GBCs) due to the lack or the inapplicability of regional background values in the study area. The establishment of GBCs of heavy metal (HM) in soil helps in making the accurate assessment of pollution, and then provides a basis for pollution control. Based on this, a case study was undertaken to study the GBCs of the Jiedong District, Guangdong Province, China. In this research, cumulative frequency distribution curves were utilized to determine the local GBCs in the subsoils. The determined GBCs of Cr, Hg, As, Pb, Ni, Cd, Cu, Zn, Co and V were 39.91, 0.072, 11.48, 47.62, 12.70, 0.17, 14.22, 64.54, 6.31, and 68.14?mg/kg, respectively. The average concentrations of Hg, As, Pb, Cd, Cu and Zn in the topsoils exceeded the corresponding baseline concentrations. In particular, the contents of Cd and Hg were 1.53 and 2.22 times higher than GBCs. According to this baseline criterion, enrichment factor (EF), pollution load index (PLI) and ecological risk index (RI) were applied to assessing HM pollution. EF and PLI suggested that most areas were under moderate contamination, while Hg and Cd pollution was more serious. And the RI values presented that the potential ecological risks were low in most parts of the study area. The possible origins of HMs were identified by combining positive matrix factorization with EF and geostatistics. Comprehensive analysis indicated that Hg and Cd were related to industrial activities, such as textile and garment processing, plastic and rubber production and metal manufacturing. Arsenic and part of Cu mainly came from agricultural activities, namely the use of pesticides, fertilizers and livestock manures. Lead and Zn were mainly attributed to traffic emissions. Chromium, Ni, V, Co, and part of Cu were originated from natural source controlled by parent materials. The corresponding contributions of these sources were 20.61%, 24.20%, 19.22% and 35.97%, respectively. This work provides information to prevent and control the soil HM pollution by proposing the efficient management of anthropogenic sources.

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Earliest evidence of pollution by heavy metals in archaeological sites.

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Earliest evidence of pollution by heavy metals in archaeological sites.

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