The study was in part a response to Russell’s challenge for historians to engage more strongly with the sciences. Despite the methodological challenges that integrating the two disciplines poses in theory, particularly in relation to the experimental nature of geo and environmental science and establishing the date of pollution deposition, in practice it was successful. Tightly integrating the environmental record with the archive material and directing and shaping the ‘science’ to fit the historical research agenda from the outset facilitated, as Russell predicted, a much deeper and richer understanding of the relationship between historic mining activity and contemporary pollution problems at the site that neither discipline in isolation could have achieved. The record contained in the soil material bridged the gap when the documentary evidence was sparse or non-existent, as with pinpointing the precise location of the smelter and the
potential re-working of the wastes at Glengarry by the TMC and the TLZC. On the other hand, archival sources can provide (and also challenge) the historical context in which the scientific data is interpreted. Historical research similarly plugs gaps in the wider understanding of current pollution problems such as in the journey over time between source of contaminant and its current deposition. Furthermore, detailed documentary accounts of the machinery and the processes that were utilised at the time, particularly at Glengarry, tied into the environmental record in this way, sheds light on the cultural origins and formation of technosols. Technosols are a new classification of soils introduced into the World Reference Base for Soil Resources in 2006 in order to better understand soils solely derived from industrial activity (IUSS Working Group WRB 2006). There is no doubt that lead mining at Tyndrum has created a substantial long-term physical and chemical legacy that is far more dynamic and extensive than the current visible degradation implies. Although the study has barely scratched the surface of the astonishing complexity of the historic and current pollution problem and many questions remain unanswered, clear relationships between mining activity and pollution have emerged. These suggest that lead values varied according to the organic content of the soil material, topography, and particle size, but importantly the dressing of lead ore in preparation for smelting consistently produced the greatest concentrations that were in some instances 200 times greater than background levels. Although no clear correlations were established between the distinct periods of Tyndrum’s history and pollution values, a clear association has emerged between concentration levels and the quantity of ore raised rather than the manner, i.e. efficiently or wastefully, in which the ore is produced. This throws some doubt on the concept of ecoefficiency: the notion of reducing production costs whilst concomitantly safeguarding the environment. Although driven by economic as opposed to environmental concerns, the SMC and the second marquis, in particular, endeavoured to produce more for less by adopting new and