Archaeology of Mining

In the large forests of the eastern Harz Mountains thousands of archaeological structures lie hidden under woodland canopies – many of them hitherto unknown and undocumented. Because of their enormous number and the forest vegetation, “conventional” surveys as well as aerial archaeology and/or geophysical prospection quickly reach their limits. Laser  scanning can be used as a tool for a highly precise and effective documentation of these sites and monuments, and to develop a protection programme for them.

This study provides the first evidence for the extraction of lead in the later early medieval period in Lancashire, in the North West of England. Archaeological evidence for human activity in the region during the later medieval period is modest, although the material culture that is known supports the historic accounts of settlement by people of Scandinavian origin, which is reinforced by studies of place names and local dialect. Investigation of two upland sites in the western Pennines, on Anglezarke and Rivington moors, indicates that lead was being extracted in the period c.680-1000 cal.AD, most likely from known veins at Lead Mines Clough. The emergence of extractive activity coincides with contact with the Norse who are known from both historic and archaeological evidence to have been present in Lancashire during the later early medieval period.

KEYWORDS
EARLY MEDIEVAL, LEAD, MINING, MINERAL EXTRACTION, MAGNETIC MEASUREMENT, SATURATION ISOTHERMAL REMANENT MAGNETISATION ASSAY, HEAVY METAL (LEAD) ASSAY, METALLURGY, UPLAND, PEAT, LANCASHIRE, ARCHAEOLOGY, ARCHAEOLOGICAL METHOD, NORSE ARCHAEOLOGY

The first part of this study debates the possibility of existence of pre-Roman mines discussing some stone tools which belong typologically to the category “Rillenschlägel” or “Grooved hammer-stones.” Such hammer stones were discovered in Transylvania at Caraciu (Hunedoara County) and in the prehistoric settlement from Petresti (Alba County). Another possible evidence of pre-Roman mining exploitations is offered by the early salt exploitations from Valea Florilor (Cluj County), so far considered to belong to the Dacian period. The 14C date for one of the wooden tools surprisingly belongs to the later Bronze Age (13th century B.C.). A similar date is proposed for the wooden objects found out in 1817 in Valea Regilor, in Maramures. Only one image of these objects was published. The objects preserved in the National Museum of Geology from Budapest disappeared during the World War II.
The study also presents a number of 14C dates concerning gold mining in Roman Dacia. We discuss the date (2000+60 BP) given for a hydraulic wheel hub from Ruda-Brad (Hunedoara County), which can be dated cal. 1 σ (68 %) between 75 BC - 45 AD and cal. 2 σ (95 %) between 150 BC-130 BC. Two other dates concern the gold exploitations from Rosia Montană, being collected from Păru-Carpeni and Orlea areas. A sample of a wooden ladder from Păru-Carpeni gave the date 1860+60 BP, which was calibrated 1 σ (68 %) between 90-240 AD and cal. 2 σ (95%) between 20-245 AD.

From northern China and Mongolia to the Black Sea region, turquoise was the dominant gemstone in the ornamentation of communities occupying the central and northern regions of Eurasia in the first millennium BCE and the first centuries CE. In Central Asia, turquoise became the main blue-colored gem used through the Achaemenid, Greco-Bactrian, and Kushan periods, particularly in the form of small beads or inlays (c.f. Tillya Tepe). Despite its clear importance in the imagination and ornamentation of Central Asian communities, focused archaeological research of turquoise stones is not numerous and has only rarely deviated from mineralogical and geochemical considerations. Countering this tendency, this poster outlines the goals and preliminary results of an ongoing doctoral dissertation that hopes to contribute to a better understanding of the socio-economic aspects of turquoise mining and exchange in ancient Central Asia.

The present study centers on the important yet under-studied turquoise mines of the Kyzylkum desert in modern Uzbekistan and explores two interrelated questions. The first focuses on the modus operandi of turquoise procurement in the Kyzylkum and its dissemination into surrounding regions. This includes the identity of actors involved in these various processes, as well as the role of turquoise and its companion industries in the context of larger desert economic systems (e.g., metal resource extraction). Secondly, this project highlights the leading role of turquoise among other gemstones in ancient Eurasian exchange networks, especially in relation to the formation of elite languages of prestige in the centuries around our common era. Fundamentally, these various queries hope to enrich our inadequate understanding of the economy of ancient Central Asia and the role of nomadic and semi-nomadic communities within it.

La intervención arqueológica realizada en 2012 en el Valladolises y Lo Jurado (Murcia), permitió la exhumación y documentación de todo un conjunto de canteras para mampuestos de cronología altoimperial y tardía entre los siglos I a. C. a IV d. C. que pueden ser relacionadas con la contrucción de las villae del entorno.

The Quartz Reef Point Historic Reserve protects what is probably the best set of surviving herringbone tailings in the Otago Goldfields. The reserve is located on a terrace on the south side of the Clutha River (now Lake Dunstan), about five kilometres north-west of Cromwell, in Central Otago. The tailings are also known as the Northburn Tailings, after Northburn Station on which they were located until the historic reserve was created in 1978. This report discusses the known history of the area, the archaeological evidence, and the historical, physical and cultural significance of the tailings.

Das Siegerland im Süden Westfalens zählt zu den wichtigsten Montangebieten Mitteleuropas. Es wird als Teil des Rechtsrheinischen Schiefergebirges vom Siegerland-Wied-Distrikt durchzogen, dessen eisenreiche Vererzungen bereits obertägig als sog. “Eiserner Hut” ausbeißen. Bereits vom Mittelalter bis in die 1960er Jahre hinein wurde im Siegerland aus dem anstehenden Erz Eisen gewonnen. Dass diese Tätigkeit jedoch noch viel weiter, bis in die Latènezeit, zurückreicht, wurde Anfang des 20. Jh. durch die Forschungsarbeiten der Heimatkundler O. Krasa und P. Theis klar, die die ersten latènezeitlichen Schlackenhalden entdeckten.
Im Zentrum der Publikation, die 2015 erfolgreich als Dissertation an der Ruhr-Universität Bochum eingereicht werden konnte, stehen wirtschaftsarchäologische Fragen zur latènezeitlichen Eisenproduktion im Siegerland. Zur Lösung dieser Fragen standen durch dem DFG-Projekt „Latènezeitliche Eisenwirtschaft im Siegerland: Interdisziplinäre Forschungen zur Wirtschaftsarchäologie“ archäologische Relikte und Proben für interdisziplinäre Untersuchungen zur Verfügung.
Um die Chaîne opératoire vom Erz bis zum Produkt nachzuvollziehen zu können, mussten v. a. die metallurgischen Funde wie z. B. Schlacken, Luppen und Ofenwände sowohl quantitativen und makroskopischen Ansprachen als auch naturwissenschaftlichen Analysen unterzogen werden. Anthrakologische und palynologische Untersuchungen geben darüber hinaus u. a. Informationen über die Landwirtschaft und Waldressourcennutzung. Erste Datierungen über Keramikfunde konnten durch C14-Messungen konkretisiert werden.
Ziel war es, den Wirtschaftskreislauf der latènezeitlichen Eisenherstellung im Siegerland in möglichst all seinen Teilbereichen soweit wie möglich zu erfassen und darzulegen. Hierzu gehörten auch Fragen nach der geographischen Vernetzung in Handels- und Verkehrswege, nach Produktionsvolumen und Abnehmer der Eisenproduktion sowie die damit verbundenen wirtschaftlichen Strategien.

Since the oldest known artifacts of tin bronze appeared in Mesopotamia and ancient Orient, more and more questions arose about the origin of this alloy, particular-ly since neither copper nor tin deposits are present in Mesopotamia. Due to this fact some researchers belief that the source of the metal, especially tin, is located in Central Asia. In Central Asia are large copper and tin deposits with traces of mining, dating to the middle and Late Bronze age (2nd millennium BC). Tin production during the Early Bronze Age is also likely, since the first tin-bronze artefacts appeared within the Sejma-Turbino circle during the End of 3rd millennium BC. The Zer-avshan valley posses large tin deposits and a part of the later Silk Road leads through the valley connecting the eastern with the western regions. Several different tin mining districts in the Zeravshan valley were exca-vated: in Karnab and Lapas, situated between Samar-kand and Bokhara; Čangali near Kattakurgan; Mushis-ton, which is not far away from Pendjikent and the famous settlement of Sarazm. The Mining took place in open cast trench mines, which followed the veins into an un-known depth or, like in Mushiston, in an underground mine, which old galleries and chambers formed a huge labyrinth. Ceramic typology and radiocarbon dates date the mines in Karnab, Lapas and Changali to the middle 2nd millennium BC (Andronovo-Tazabagjab culture). On-ly Mushiston started at the end of the 3rd millennium BC and stopped in the late Bronze Age

Records of technological practice provide an important lens for studying societies and cultures across time and space. This dissertation takes a diachronic view of the role of ancient copper production in the formation and oscillations of power when historical ‘state’ level societies emerged during the late 2nd – 1st millennium BCE in the southern Levant. The primary study area is Jordan’s Faynan district that contains the richest copper ore deposits in the southern Levant and constitutes one of the best preserved records of ancient copper extraction in the world. As demonstrated here, ancient metallurgy played a major role in socio-political processes for south Levantine complex societies during the Iron Age (12th – 6th centuries BCE). The core of this study is the identification of detailed chaînes opératoires of changing Iron Age copper production systems. Based on newly excavated archaeometallurgy material culture, surveys, analyses of large technology-related assemblages, and previously published data, the basic components of the changing production systems are defined, and social meanings are extracted.

Overveiw about the state of the art of Bronze Age mining in the Eastern Alps: Die alpinen Kupfererzreviere: Aspekte ihrer zeitlichen, technologischen und wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung im zweiten Jahrtausend vor Christus.
Mining and the establisment of permanent settlement inside the Alps during the Early Bronze Age: Die Besiedlungsgeschichte der Ostalpen in der Früh- und Mittelbronzezeit: Kolonisation und wirtschaftlicher Neuanfang. Teil 1
State of the art of one of the most eminent copper producing areas during the Bronze Age: Der Mitterberg als Großproduzent für Kupfer in der Bronzezeit.

The chronology of Khirbet en-Nahas, a large Iron Age archaeological site located in the copper mining region of Faynan, southern Jordan, has been under fierce debate for the last 15 years. Since the site was excavated in 2002–2009, several analyses challenged the excavators' interpretation of the stratigraphy, the results of the radiocarbon data and its dating. However, so far none of these challenges considered the final report published in 2014, which provided precious information from new areas of excavations and novel series of 14C dates. It is therefore necessary to have an independent reassessment of the archaeological and radiocarbon evidence of each excavated area based on the final report. Reasonable questions raised since the beginning about the 14C dates and the use of Bayesian modelling, the stratigraphic contexts from which they were recovered, and the interpretation of the ceramic assemblage can now be reassessed through a meticulous analysis of the site's stratigraphy and finds. Considering this re-evaluation of the evidence, it is possible to present a reconstruction of the history of the site somewhat different from the one suggested by the excavators.

Abstract: The archaeometallurgical and archaeological research carried out in southeastern Europe, the Aegean and Anatolia has provided a general insight into cultural interactions that occurred during the 4th millennium BC. For example, metal objects that were found in the rich graves of Novosvobodnaja, Majkop or Arslantepe provide evidence that various metals such as gold, silver, lead and arsenical copper were already available in Anatolia and the Caucasus in the 4th (and early 3rd) millennium BC; heavy shaft hole axes and other implements occurred in the Balkans during that period as well. To date only a few settlements have been found along the west Anatolian coastline which yielded evidence confirming the production or melting of metal in the 4th and early 3rd millennia BC. Çukuriçi Höyük as one of these few examples provides evidence for intensive metalworking, e.g. the production of arsenical copper during EBA 1. Moreover, the production of a silver-copper alloy suggests that the metallurgists at Çukuriçi Höyük had the knowledge of particular smelting and alloying techniques, which attests to a wide-ranging social and technological network at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. This well-developed system of metalworking is rooted in the Late Chalcolithic period, as indicated by lead isotope analyses carried out on objects found at Çukuriçi Höyük. Furthermore, archaeological objects as well as analytical results obtained from finds unearthed in the regions under study indicates a ‘connection’ with the Balkans, as shown by two recently found ‘ring idols’ near  Izmir.

Resumen En este artículo se presenta la secuencia ocupacional alfarera de la Mina Las Turquesas, emplazada en El Salvador, comuna de Diego de Almagro, discutiendo sus aportes al conocimiento de la minería lapidaria prehispánica y sobre las probables interrelaciones entre las manifestaciones culturales alfareras circumpuneñas y del valle de Copiapó, caracterizando sus particulares ocupaciones interno-dales dentro del desierto de Atacama. Igualmente, se postulan vin-culaciones de este sitio con rutas camineras locales y con el Qhapaq Ñan longitudinal. También se entregan fechados absolutos inéditos de la Mina Las Turquesas y del oasis de Finca de Chañaral, para discutir determinadas interacciones sociales. Finalmente, y en base al sitio Mina Las Turquesas, se plantean las singularidades socio-culturales de la zona en estudio (comuna de Diego de Almagro), ubicada en el Desierto Meridional de Atacama. Palabras claves: Minería no metalífera – interacciones culturales – redes caravaneras – prehistoria alfarera. Abstract This article presents the occupational pottery sequence of the Las Turquesas Mine, located in El Salvador, Diego de Almagro commune , discussing its contributions to the knowledge of the pre-hispanic lapidary mining and the probable interrelations between the cultural manifestations pottery circumpuneña and of the Copiapo valley, with the purpose to characterize its particular intermodal occupations within the Atacama Desert. Likewise, linkages of this site are posited with local road routes and the longitudinal Qhapaq Ñan. There is also unpublished absolute dated from the Las Tur-quesas Mine and Finca of Chañaral oasis, to discuss certain social interactions. Finally, based on the site Las Turquesas Mine, as an analytical focal point, the sociocultural singularities of the area under study (Diego de Almagro commune), located in the Southern Atacama Desert, are proposed.

Commercial activity in the Red Sea was muted between the late sixth and early ninth centuries, when a general revival of commerce becomes apparent. The mining industry, slave trade, textile manufacture and ‘India trade’ are considered here. Causes of early Islamic commercial expansion are found in the social and cultural changes associated with the Sāmarrāʾn caliphate. Contrary to the received wisdom, it is argued that the commercial revival of the Red Sea in the Islamic period began a century earlier than the Fāṭimids and was based on a broader platform than the ‘India trade.’

Key words: Early Islamic; economy; mining; slavery; textiles; ‘India trade.’

At the site of Prigglitz-Gasteil, located at the easternmost fringe of the Alps, the excellently preserved remains of the Late Bronze Age copper mining site were excavated from 2010 to 2014. The aims of the subsequent research project (2017-2021) were to investigate the organisation and the operation of an Alpine copper mine in order to improve our knowledge of prehistoric miners' work and life in relation to the networks of communication and exchange. The micro-regional case study included the multidisciplinary study of plant remains, animal bones, metallurgical finds, micro-debris and soil chemistry, combined with minimally invasive fieldwork in the form of core drillings and nondestructive geophysical prospection methods.

This is a Thesis on Industrial Archaeology, the first of its kind to be developed in the University of Cordoba. Its main aim is to analyze the role played by copper mining and metallurgy in the peculiar industrialization process of Cordoba, focusing on the particular case of Cerro Muriano, an area of the cordobesian mountain range located 16 km North from the city and divided into the municipal boundaries of Cordoba and Obejo (Spain). From strict meaning, the chronological range of this research goes from 1897 to 1919, when Cerro Muriano was worked by four different British companies: Cordova Exploration Company, Ltd.; Cerro Muriano Mines, Ltd.; North Cerro Muriano Copper Mines, Ltd.; and Cordoba Copper Company, Ltd. However, the study of the context (from a local to an international scale) and the connection between the case analyzed and its environment attends to a wider period: around 1850-1950, i.e. the time of Cordoba industrialization.
Mining and metallurgy brought far-reaching changes to the territory of Cerro Muriano. This Thesis answers a number of questions by applying archaeological methods to the remains of these industrial activities, combined with the study of any other sources of information. For example, how was the English exploitation of that place, how and why did it start, which one was its model, which was the situation of the Cerro Muriano mine in relation to others, how mining and metallurgy changed the landscape there, which cultural context and industrial society were generated by these activities and how the whole thing influenced on the industrialization of Cordoba.

Urnfield period copper production at the fringe of the Eastern Alps. First results about nutrition and subsistence in the mining settlement of Prigglitz-Gasteil (Lower Austria)

Abstract: At Prigglitz-Gasteil (Lower Austria) an extensive mining settlement of the Urnfield period is located, where copper ore was mined, beneficiated and further processed. Since 2010 new excavations have been conducted at this site. Until now two terrain terraces with remains of timber constructions and metallurgical features have been investigated. Alongside copper production and processing, surprisingly many other activities can be evidenced in a limited area: the fabrication of miners’ tools from red deer antler, the sewing of cloths and the making of bone beads. Two thirds of the meat consumed by the miners consisted of pork which is shown to be typical for Eastern Alpine mining sites. A detailed analysis of the pig bones reveals remarkable analogies with a special butchering and meat processing technique which is only known from the prehistoric salt mine of Hallstatt where it is related with the production of salted ham. For the first time, similarities concerning food supply of salt and copper mining sites during the Urnfield period become apparent.

Die gemeinsamen Forschungen der Universität Bamberg und des Landesamtes für Archäologie, Dresden, auf dem Treppenhauer im Erzgebirge konnten an ältere Untersuchungen unter der Leitung Wolfgang Schwabenicky anknüpfen. Im Mittelpunkt standen die Struktur und Entwicklung der Siedlung, die durch ein modernes Geländeaufmaß und gezielt angelegte Grabungsflachen in bislang nicht oder kaum archäologisch untersuchten Bereichen beleuchtet wurden. Insbesondere konnten neue Ergebnisse zu Bauformen, zur Datierung und zur funktionalen Gliederung der Siedlung gewonnen werden.

Im Unterschied zu der bisherigen Forschungsmeinung war die Siedlungsfläche offenbar deutlich funktional gegliedert, in dem Wohnbereiche, Bergbaulich genutzte Areale und ein Handwerksbezirk unterschieden wurden. Der Beginn der Siedlung hat um 1200, möglicherweise noch am Ende des 12. Jahrhunderts gelegen. Die Aufgabe erfolgte in der zweiten Hälfte des 14. Jahrhunderts.

Dieser Beitrag konnte den Auftakt zu einer erneuten Aufnahme montanarchäologischer Untersuchungen in Erzgebirge und Vorland bilden.

In mining operations carried out below the water table, mine area could potentially affect the surrounding. With further deepening of the mine and quarry, the drawdown can impact on water supply wells and base flow. The variation in radius of influence under confined and unconfined aquifer condition is assessed using a hypothetical case study with three operational quarry sites. Average pit-wise radius of influence (R0) for the pit mine, under unconfined and confined aquifer conditions is 963 m and 61 km, respectively, whereas effective radius (Re) for total (cumulative) excavated mine area is 1.7 and 146 km, respectively. It means that the maximum and minimum value of overall impact/influence for the unconfined aquifer lies in-between 963 m and 1.7 km. Similarly that the maximum and minimum value of overall impact/influence for the confined aquifer lies in-between 61 and 146 km. Meanwhile, Re or effective radius for total (cumulative) excavated area seems more appropriate from evaluation viewpoint due to the overlapping (superposition) concentric mining quarries. Thus, assessment of quarry-wise and total radius of influence is of importance to fulfil targeted production, economically with minimum interruptions as part of the mine planning. Moreover, it helps us to assess, monitor and regulate the impact of a mine-dewatering program in the area. Also, the pumping test is often used to estimate radius of influence; it can trigger the inflow or radius of influence. Estimate of the radius of influence using analytical equation mainly independent of discharge/abstraction from the aquifer stands as a preferred choice for the prediction of radius of influence at the quarry/mine pit. There is a strong rationale that policies should be informed by such analytical assessment because it helps us to prevent or minimize negative impacts as part of regulation and pit-mining management and are useful tools for practitioners to design economically efficient and cost-effective in situ groundwater remediation systems, to contain contaminant plumes, to evaluate the surface–subsurface water interaction and to verify numerical models.

Kazakhstan is a country rich in natural resources even by
today’s standards. Thus it was not surprising, that in the
first half of the 20th century, Soviet geologists found “old
mining pits” while searching for economically usable resources.
Subsequent archaeological research mostly around the
rich copper ore deposits in Central Kazakhstan or around the
tin providing areas in Eastern Kazakhstan proved the existence
of an ore winning industry, which can be dated far into
the Bronze Age. Furthermore, excavations of Bronze Age
metallurgic- and artisan settlements could be placed in relation to special pit mining areas due to comparing finds and
natural scientific analyses. Continuative research picked up
on those analyses, but concentrated more on the many high
quality bronze artefacts, which are divided into different metal
provinces and therefore can be related to certain deposits.
The collected conclusions concerning the technology transfer
or the cultural connections, were unfortunately based on
unreliable sources and outdated facts, in a non-critical and
unquestioned way. This essay provides a short view of the
current state of research of mining archaeological researched
areas and ore deposits as well as their respective settlements
in Kazakhstan during the Bronze Age.

Since 2010 the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt (Germany) is able to purchase LiDAR data for different regions of interest.
One of these areas are the Harz Mountains which are covered by forests up to 60 %. For this region a 2,160 km2 large DTM was generated. This is the basis for further investigations on archaeological and historical features covered by trees. Until yet it was possible to identify and digitalize more than 1000 archaeological sites. Some had already been discovered by systematic field surveys, others have been detected during the ongoing, systematic analyses of the DTM. Particularly, the emerging network of medieval settlement and economic structures seems to open a very promising field of research. Among others, hill forts, deserted villages, ridge and furrow, mine shafts and pits, charcoal kilns, defensive dikes and water reservoirs, dams, and ditches which are often integrated in a system of roads and lanes, could be identified. Pre- and early historic earthworks and burial mounds are represented, too.
At first, all monuments are going to be digitalized and then will be analysed and interpreted. Eventually, it is planned to develop preservation strategies for these monuments in cooperation with the forestry offices.

The rich copper ore deposits in the eastern Alps have long been considered
as important sources for copper in prehistoric central Europe.
However, the role that each deposit played is not clear. To evaluate
the amount of prehistoric copper produced from the various mining
regions, we attempted to link prehistoric metal artefacts with copper
ores based on the geochemical characteristics of the ore deposits that
were exploited in ancient times. Alongside the usage of ores as shown
by the finished products, the production aspects, the quantity and
variation over time must also be considered. Recent archaeological
investigation has allowed these datasets to be combined in order to
show the importance of one of the largest Bronze Age mining fields
in Europe. More than 120 ore samples from the well-known mining
regions of Mitterberg, Viehhofen, and Kitzbühel were analysed for
lead isotope ratios and trace element concentrations. These results
were combined with analytical data generated by previous archaeometallurgical
projects in order to compile a substantial database for
comparative studies. In the Early Bronze Age, most metal artefacts
were made of copper or bronze with fahlore impurity patterns, and
most examples from this period match the fahlore deposits in Schwaz
and Brixlegg. At the end of the Early Bronze Age, a new variety of
copper with low concentrations of impurities appeared. The impurity
patterns of these examples match the ores from the Mitterberg
region. Later, in the Middle Bronze Age, this variety of copper almost
completely replaced the fahlore copper. In the Late Bronze Age, the
exploitation of the ores changed again and copper with a fahlore signature
reappeared. The reason for the renewed copper production
from fahlores might have been a decline of the chalcopyrite mines.
But it was more likely due to the fact that the rising demand for copper
could no longer be met by the chalcopyrite mines alone. The examples
from the Early Iron Age show no fundamental changes in
metal composition. The copper metallurgy in the Early Iron Age is
based on the traditions of the Late Bronze Age.