Ep 124 - Medieval Mining
Added 2023-07-19 13:46:19 +0000 UTCpatrons, here is your ad-free regular episode for the week. we answered a question from Long Skate Death.
we are back and we're talking Medieval mining. we often discuss the elaborate jewels and metals used for ostentatious royal displays and the iron weapons shaped by blacksmiths for war but how does all that metal get out of the ground? who's doing the work to dig it out? what mining technology and methods were present during the Middle Ages? what does the Roman Empire have to do with all this? we will discuss all that plus look at some of the big centers of Medieval mining across Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia.
below are links to recent archaeological finds that Eleanor mentioned in the answer to this week's question:
shipwreck: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-64151535
unusually shiny sword: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/bronze-age-sword-germany-180982399/
warrior women: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/tomb-containing-three-generations-amazon-warrior-women-unearthed-russia-180973877/
attached are three woodcuts from the late Medieval era showing common mining techniques including pneumatic mining (second image). the fourth image is an early modern look at the layout of a mining town of Banska Stiavnica in Slovakia
