Rozpoznanie stanu zanieczyszczenia miedzią i ołowiem poziomów użytkowych w rejonie Kramów Bogatych

Abstract

IDENTIFI CATION OF THE DEGREE OF POLLUTION WITH COPPER AND LEAD OF HISTORICAL UTILITY LEVELS IN THE AREA OF THE RICH STALLS

Soil tests carried out with regard to the historical layers have revealed that heavy metals, such as lead and cooper, were discharged to the environment back in the Early Middle Ages. The concentrations of these metals in the layers dating back to the Late Middle Ages have been determined at such considerable levels that they can be considered an anthropopressure indicator permitting evaluation of the condition of the environment and determination of the possible function of historical objects, or used to reproduce the original morphology  of the area on the basis of the traces of the migration of metals. The tests were carried out on the surfaced levels, a.k.a. the utility levels, and concerned with their contamination with copper and lead. Samples were taken from the bottoms of the basements located in the western row of the Rich Stalls (i.e. stalls 33 through 64 according to the historical numbering) and the basement under the stall number 15 (in the eastern row). Soil samples were taken in the years 2006 and 2008, and the sampled material came from the top layer of the dirt floors, and from under the bricks, cobblestones, or planks, which had been used as floorings and surfaces in the stall basements. To provide reference for the degree of contamination with metals of the particular chambers in the Rich Stalls, tests were also carried out in the former passage between the Rich Stalls (sampled in 2006) and in the layers/ fills in the area of the earliest stalls (the Boleslaus’ Stalls; sampled in 2007). A thorough analysis of the physical and chemical properties of the sampled soil can determine the contamination indicators that would help archaeologists interpret the past functions of the area of Main Market Square (Rynek Główny) in Kraków.