Earliest evidence of pollution by heavy metals in archaeological sites
Monge, Guadalupe (Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Cristalografía, Mineralogía y Química Agrícola)
Jimenez-Espejo, Francisco J. (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology. Department of Biogeochemistry)
García-Alix, Antonio (University of Glasgow. Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences)
Martínez-Ruiz, Francisca (Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra)
Mattielli, Nadine (Université Libre Bruxelles. Laboratoire G-Time)
Finlayson, Clive (The University of Gibraltar. Institute of Life and Earth Sciences)
Ohkouchi, Naohiko (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology. Department of Biogeochemistry)
Sánchez, Miguel Cortés (Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología)
de Castro, Jose María Bermúdez (University College London Anthropology)
Blasco, Ruth (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Prehistòria)
Rosell Ardèvol, Jordi (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social)
Carrión, José (Universidad de Murcia. Departamento de Biología Vegetal)
Rodríguez-Vidal, Joaquín (Universidad de Huelva. Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra)
Finlayson, Geraldine (The University of Gibraltar. Institute of Life and Earth Sciences)

Fecha:	2015
Resumen:	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.
Derechos:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Lengua:	Anglès
Documento:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Publicado en:	Scientific reports, Vol. 5 (September 2015) , ISSN 2045-2322

DOI: 10.1038/srep14252
PMID: 26388184

9 p, 4.2 MB

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