Undersökning av starten för historisk gruvbrytning i centrala Sverige

Knowledge about Sweden’s mining history before the 13th century is patchy and shallow. The earliest historical document was a deed in 1288 CE regarding the reacquisition of an 8th part share of Falu Copper Mountain. Likewise, many indicators point to the fact that mining and metal production were active before that. Since mining activities have always impacted the environment negatively, research about mining and its history is an important area of study. In this study, two sediment profiles, based on 4 sediment cores were taken from two water bodies, Vikern and Dalkarlsberg. This thesis aims to investigate three main things: I) That the element concentrations from mining and metal production can be detected before 1288 CE. II) There is a recovery in the element concentrations in Vikern and Dalkarlsberg when mining activities have stopped. III) That the concentrations of the elements from mining activities in the northwestern part of Vikern are detectable in Dalkarlsberg. The change at the 60 cm mark in Vikern did not happen in the late 13th century. This means that the first hypothesis, that mining and metal production can be detected before 1288 CE, cannot be confirmed because the age depth model puts the change in the 19th century. The second hypothesis was hard to confirm. The youngest date in the profile is 1855 CE, and that puts the recovery at least in the middle of the 19th century, however, a good estimation cannot be made of the age at 30 cm as the sedimentation rate is not constant. The third hypothesis, that the element concentration is detectable in Dalkarlsberg and in Vikern have a shared origin, is confirmed by the similarities of the element concentration in the sediment profile between Vikern and Dalkarlsberg.