European mining landscapes in the Harz Mountains, the Ore Mountains, the Black Forest, and the Vosges bear witness to deep human-induced transformations over the past millennium. These regions reflect profound anthropogenic changes, including soil erosion, hydrological alterations, pollution, and deforestation. Today, these former centers of mineral extraction have evolved into popular tourist destinations. While the technological and economic impacts of mining have been thoroughly analyzed, the toxic legacy of mining and its lasting effects on the environment and society, both past and present, remain largely unexamined. Particularly underexplored is a perspective that considers the historical depth of environmental impacts—consequences that have long been neglected in mining’s heritage narratives, which often emphasize technological progress over ecological costs.
This project investigates toxic residue as an inherent component of mining and as the outcome of centuries-long interactions between humans and the environment. It will do so by advancing an interdisciplinary, ecologically grounded understanding of mining landscapes from a historical and a critical heritage science perspective. This research represents a section of my forthcoming book, "Subterranean Ecologies: Resource Cultures and Mining Practices in the Early Modern Period," which seeks to develop transdisciplinary approaches to human-environment relations in pre-/post-industrial mining landscapes. This project also builds on the research of a recently funded DFG/AHRC project "Toxic Heritage: Socio-natural Landscapes of Extraction and Pollution in the Harz and Cornwall" (Co-PI, Peter Oakley, Royal College of Art, London).