I was wondering if there are any examples of nuclear deposits effects being noticed in sources prior to the widespread use of the them for bombs etc. For example the effect on a medieval settlement that set up too close to a Uranium deposit, or maybe accidentally coming across it mining.
Here's an answer I wrote up to a very similar question asked a few weeks ago. Basically the only plausible case is that of uranium miners in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic contracting "Bergkrankheit" (mountain sickness) — what later (19th century) was diagnosed as lung cancer, and much later (20th century) traced to exposure to radon daughter products.
But other than that — natural radioactive sources accessible to humans are far too weak and diffuse to be noticeable except maybe with massive epidemiological studies. It was not until people realized that radioactivity existed (late 19th century) that they went out and started looking for it, concentrating the radioactive sources in nature (like radium) to make powerful sources, and later creating the means to make artificially radioactive sources (e.g. with reactors, bombs, etc.).