After the Iberian Peninsula was conquered and its territory brought into the Roman Empire, its abundant ores were mined on an unprecedented scale, feeding into coinage, lead pipes, and other objects, and contributing to levels of pollution not seen again until the Industrial Revolution. This talk examines mining and its effects on the communities and ecologies of southeast Iberia following the conquest of this region during the Second Punic War. This region also had botanical and marine resources, long exploited by local communities, who reacted to Roman mining in divergent ways. Weavers of local grasses shifted their production strategies, supplying equipment for Roman mining. By contrast, harvesters of a large mollusk species, who once collaborated closely with miners, broke ties with the industry. Ultimately, the talk shows the important role that local decision making played in the organization of production and the experience of empire in Roman Iberia.
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