Bath Carbonates Reveal Ancient Lead

Laminated carbonate deposits in wells, baths and aqueduct channels can be sampled and chemically profiled to reconstruct changes in urban water sourcing, seasonality, and anthropogenic contamination—including lead exposure from plumbing—across centuries. Applied systematically, this ‘bath‑carbonate paleohydrology’ method turns public‑bath archaeology into a high‑resolution archive of urban environmental health. — If deployed broadly, the technique provides a new empirical route to assess historical public‑health risks, inform debates about ancient urban infrastructure, and offer lessons for modern water‑system governance and legacy contamination.