Peter,
perhaps what Mike was asking is were the smelting sites outside the enclosed
and cultivated land on the common or waste. The fall out of contaminants
could be quite localised due to the heavy nature of the particles. This is
certainly seen on later sites although i understand that a plume of lesser
contamination can extend for some distance. The effects on local settlements
in the second zone could therefore have gone un-noticed.
The only problem about soil sampling would be the number of samples need to
locate a small discrete site such as a bale/bole. It could end up being a
needle in a haystack exercise. A vegetation survey might be more profitable
identifying the presence of lead tolerant plants. This could then be backed
up with soil sampling. Because of differences in the smelting technology
might it be possible to distinguish bale smelting from ore hearth smelting
residues?
Martin Roe
Conservation Officer NAMHO
National Association of Mining History Organisations http://www.namho.org
Lead Mining in the Yorkshire Dales
http://www.mroe.freeserve.co.uk
The Industrial Heritage of Calderdale
http://www.halifaxcouriertoday.co.uk/ftpinc/calderheritage
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