Archaeology of mining in the pre-industrial age

Abstract

Some of the issues associated with the work of mining archaeologists and the practice of archaeology that were used to recover information from pre-industrial and undocumented early mineworkings are discussed within this chapter, which is based largely upon the work experience of the author and his colleagues in excavating prehistoric to early historic metal mines within the UK. Yet other examples are taken from across the world of 19th to 21st century archaeological work at early mines, but which have a focus on European examples. Evidence for the systematic mining of raw material (such as stone, pigment or metal ores) can be found worldwide, and associated with almost all ancient societies. Despite the obliterating effects of modern mining, some traces of this work usually survive, which following a forensic approach to the examination of the evidence, can be brought to life and interpreted.