An Imperial Legacy? An Exploration of the environmental impact of ancient metal mining and smelting in southern Jordan.

Abstract

Extensive wastes from the copper mining and smelting activities of the Nabatean, Roman and Byzantine periods in the Wadi Faynan in the southern Jordanian desert continue to exert a profound influence upon the environment, mainly through processes of bioaccumulation. It is suggested that in antiquity both producers and consumers (plants and animals) would have similarly been subjected to enhanced bioaccumulation of potentially toxic heavy metals such as lead and copper, whose consequences are explored in this account.