Alpine ice cores reveal economic impact on Britain of Thomas Becket murder in 1170

By Dilip -
Ice from an Alpine glacier has revealed a remarkable timeline of Britain’s lead mining industry – complete with economic booms and busts relating to major events during the medieval period, from the assassination of Thomas Becket to the signing of the Magna Carta. A study of a 72 metre long core bored from a glacier in the Swiss-Italian Alps shows how air pollution from lead in the 12th century was as bad then as it was during the industrial revolution. Climate change scientists, historians and archaeologists from the universities of Nottingham, Harvard and Maine used ultra-high precision laser technology to analyse the 800-year-old ice, which they found “exactly maps the comings and goings of England’s kings”.

The research shows how traces of lead pollution from mines in the UK, in particular the Peak District, directly mirror historical “parchment roll” records of lead production in the region between 1170 and 1216. They said “cutting edge atmospheric modelling” revealed the traces of lead in the ice were deposited in the Alps by the winds coming from the northwest, which carried dust and pollution from the UK....
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/alpine-ice-core-economy-thomas-beckett-murder-a9437546.html

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