The ancient Romans did not want to breathe dirty air and took appropriate measures. This assumption was made by the authors of the scientific experiment – students and teachers of the University of Trier. Trier, founded by the Romans in 17 BC, is officially the oldest city in Germany.
In these places, many traces of the stay and activities of the ancient Romans have been preserved – in particular, in the mountainous region of the Eifel. Among them are the remains of Roman kilns for firing pottery near the town of Mayen in Rhineland-Palatinate, discovered a long time ago.
In Mayen, located about a hundred kilometers from Trier, they produced ceramic dishes and other small products that were traded in the 3rd-4th centuries in the space from Lake Constance to England. These and other goods were transported along the Moselle and the Rhine.
Recently it turned out that such furnaces were located in the Eifel, not only in Mayen, but also in other parts of this region. Some time ago, the first traces were found in the forest between the settlements of Speicher and Herforst, about thirty kilometers from Trier. Then, targeted searches were carried out here, as a result of which so much evidence of such production was found that scientists from the Leibniz Center for Archeology (LEIZA) in Mainz talk about the existence in these places of a kind of whole industrial zone for the production of ceramics – moreover, especially heat-resistant.
Ecological expertise and archeology
Why was the production located here and not closer to Trier, which would be more convenient? It is likely that emissions from stoves do not spoil the air in the city – such an assumption was put forward by students in the course of environmental meteorology.
As stated in a press release from the University of Trier, in order to confirm this hypothesis, the young scientists decided to apply modern computer simulation methods. They are now used, for example, to carry out environmental reviews of industrial construction projects. Such mandatory examinations make it possible to assess, in particular, in which direction and what emissions will spread, how they will affect the environmental situation, and so on.
To get the data for the calculations, the students conducted a series of practical experiments using a reconstructed Roman kiln in the Volcanic Eifel Geological Park. She is shown in the first photo. To create computer models of emission distribution, information was needed on the amount of combustible material, the duration of the firing process, and the frequency of use.
Roman ovens did not have filters or any other cleaning systems, which was also taken into account in the calculations. In addition to the locations of individual industries, the terrain, wind rose and other weather data were also taken into account.
Harmful emissions during the time of the ancient Romans
As expected, ancient stoves did not meet modern standards – neither in terms of emissions of nitrogen oxides, nor in terms of carbon monoxide. The ancient Romans were not aware of the dangers of these substances, but they clearly did not want to breathe in soot, dust and be exposed to unpleasant odors.
During the existence of ceramics production between Speicher and Herforst, the location of the furnaces changed. As it was possible to find out on the basis of the experiment and computer models, this was done in such a way that the neighboring Roman settlements of smoke and burning reached as little as possible.
Traces of Roman lead in an Alpine glacier
It is not the first time that the environmental aspects of the economic activity of the ancient Romans have become the subject of research. A few years ago, data were published on the analysis of ice samples obtained by drilling on one of the mountain glaciers in the Alps in the Mont Blanc region. The age of the oldest layer was approximately 5000 years.
Scientists from the University of Grenoble found a significant increase in the amount of lead in samples between 350 BC and 175 AD – ten times the average level of previous periods. The peak falls on the time around 250 BC – the stage of the highest heyday of the Roman Republic.
Lead, as you know, was widely used by the Romans – for laying water pipes, making dishes and so on. They did not know about the catastrophic harm of lead to the body. Emissions from smelting furnaces entered the atmosphere.
An even higher concentration of lead, 50-100 times higher than natural, was found in samples of alpine ice from the period between the early 1950s and the late 1980s. The reason was the widespread use of leaded gasoline, but the ancient Romans no longer had anything to do with this.