New Study Questions a Major Assumption About the Fall of the Roman Empire

Many people believe that Britain’s industry collapsed after the Romans left, but a new study of metal pollutants in sediment suggests that wasn’t the case. “The fate of Britain’s crucial metal industry after the Romans left was unknown, and there isn’t any written evidence testifying that lead production continued after the third century. The researchers’ approach, however, revealed that Britain’s metal production remained strong until about a century after the Romans left, experiencing a sudden drop some time around AD 550-600. “It remains a mystery what caused the crash, but other historical sources and DNA evidence suggest Europe was engulfed by the bubonic plague at that time, wreaking devastating to the entire region’s economy.” I also found this interesting: During Henry VIII‘s Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century metal production declined significantly because people were literally pulling metal off monasteries, abbeys, and other religious houses.”