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flint mining

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}

Flint mining is the process of extracting flint from underground. Flint mines can be as simple as a pit on the surface or an area of quarrying, or it may refer to a series of shafts and tunnels used to extract flint.

Flint has been mined since the Palaeolithic, but was most common during the Neolithic. Flint was especially valued in prehistory for its use in weaponry. Although flint is not as valuable a resource in modern times, a few flint mines remain in operation even today (for example at Miorcani).{{cite web|last=Mindo S.A.|title=Mindo S.A. Annual Report|url=http://www.mindo.ro/pdf/raportanual2010.pdf|accessdate=14 May 2012}}{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

List of flint mines

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  • Austria
  • {{ill|Mauer-Antonshöhe|de}}
  • "Am Feuerstein" in Kleinwalsertal (Vorarlberg)
  • Belgium
  • The Neolithic flint mines of Spiennes
  • Jandrain-Jandrenouille (Orp-Jauche)
  • Denmark
  • Hov (near Thisted)
  • Egypt
  • Taramsa (near Qena){{cite journal|last=Verri|first=G.|title=Flint mining in prehistory recorded by in situ-produced cosmogenic 10Be|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|date=17 May 2004|volume=101|issue=21|pages=7880–7884|doi=10.1073/pnas.0402302101|pmid=15148365|pmc=419525|bibcode=2004PNAS..101.7880V|doi-access=free}}
  • Nazlet Khater (Upper Egypt)
  • France
  • {{ill|Flint mines of Bretteville-le-Rabet|de|Feuersteinbergwerke von Bretteville-le-Rabet}} located between Caen and Falaise, Calvados
  • {{ill|Flint mines of Jablines|de|Feuersteinminen von Jablines}}{{cite book|last=Bostyn, F. and Lanchon, Y. (eds.)|title=Jablines. Le Haut Château (Seine-et-Marne). Une minière de silex au Néolithique.|year=1992|publisher=Documents d’Archéologie Française, 35|location=Paris: Editions de la Maison des Sciences de L’Homme}}{{cite book|last1=Bostyn|first1=F.|last2=Lanchon|first2=Y.|chapter=The Neolithic Flint Mine at Jablines, ‘Le Haut Château’ (Seine-et-Marne)|title=Siliceous rocks and culture|year=1997|publisher=Universidad de Granada|location=Granada|isbn=9788433823908|pages=271–291|editor1=A. Ramos-Millán|editor2=M.A. Bustillo}}
  • Le Grand-Pressigny
  • Germany
  • Lengfeld (near Bad Abbach).
  • {{ill|Abensberg-Arnhofen|de|Feuersteinbergwerk von Abensberg-Arnhofen}} near Abensberg
  • Asch (near Blaubeuren)
  • Baiersdorf (near Essing)
  • Kleinkems in Efringen-Kirchen
  • Lousberg in Aachen
  • Bottmersdorf
  • Osterberg
  • On Rügen island there are the exposed flint fields between Mukran and Prora
  • Schernfeld
  • Great Britain{{cite book|last=Barber, M., Field, D. and Topping, P.|title=The Neolithic Flint Mines of England|year=1999|publisher=English Heritage|location=Swindon}}
  • Beer (Devon)
  • Blackpatch, West Sussex
  • Grimes Graves near Brandon, close to the border between Norfolk and Suffolk{{cite journal|last=Holgate, R.|title=Neolithic flint mining in Britain|journal=Archaeologia Polona|year=1995|volume=33|pages=133–161}}{{cite book|last=Topping, P.|title=Structured deposition, symbolism, and the English flint mines. In R. Schild and Z. Sulgostowska (eds), Man and Flint. Proceedings of the VIIth International Flint Symposium. Warszawa-Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Warszawa|year=1997|publisher=Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology Polish Academy of Sciences|location=Warsaw|pages=127–131}}
  • Cissbury
  • Church Hill, West Sussex
  • Harrow Hill, West Sussex
  • Penmaenmawr in Conwy County Borough, Wales
  • Hungary
  • Tata
  • Szentgál
  • Netherlands
  • {{ill|Rijckholt Sint-Geertruid mines|nl|Vuursteenmijnen van Rijckholt}}
  • {{ill|Valkenburg mines|nl|Vuursteenmijnen van Valkenburg}}
  • Pakistan
  • Flint quarries in Rohri Hills and Ongar (Sindh province){{cite web|title=The Rohri Flint Quarries; Bibliography|url=http://www.harappa.com/rohri/rohribiblio.html|access-date=14 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130106130955/http://www.harappa.com/rohri/rohribiblio.html|archive-date=6 January 2013|url-status=dead}}
  • Poland
  • Krzemionki{{cite book|author1=Migal, W. |author2=Salacinski, S.|title=Studies at Krzemionki during the last decade. In R. Schild and Z. Sulgostowska, Man and Flint. Proceedings of the VIIth International Flint Symposium. Warszawa-Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski|year=1997|publisher=Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology. Polish Academy of Sciences|location=Warsaw|pages=103–108}}
  • Wierzbica "Zele"{{cite journal|author1=Lech, H. |author2=Lech, J.|title=The Prehistoric Flint Mine at Wierzbica 'Zele': A Case Study from Poland.|journal=World Archaeology|year=1984|volume=16|issue=2|pages=186–203|doi=10.1080/00438243.1984.9979927}}
  • Orońsko II {{cite journal | vauthors=((Osipowicz, G.)), ((Kerneder-Gubała, K.)), ((Bosiak, M.)), ((Makowiecki, D.)), ((Orłowska, J.)) | journal=Quaternary International | title=The oldest osseous mining tools in Europe? New discoveries from the chocolate flint mine in Orońsko, site 2 (southern Poland) | volume=512 | pages=82–98 | date= April 2019 | issn=1040-6182 | doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2019.02.005| bibcode=2019QuInt.512...82O }}

{{cite journal | vauthors=((Kerneder-Gubała, K.)), ((Buławka, N.)), ((Buławka, S.)), ((Szubski, M.)) | journal=Archeologia Polski | title=GIS w badaniach powierzchniowych stanowisk górniczych na przykładzie kopalni krzemienia czekoladowego w Orońsku (gm. Orońsko, pow. Szydłowiecki, woj. Mazowieckie) | volume=LXII | pages=7–37 | date= 2017}}

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Further reading

The above-mentioned flint mining sites and others are mentioned in the following texts:

  • Allard, Bostyn, Giligny, Lech (Editors) 2006{{cite book|last=Allard P.|title=Flint mining in prehistoric Europe : interpreting the archaeological records : European Association of Archaeologists, 12th annual meeting, Cracow, Poland, 19th-24th September 2006|year=2008|publisher=Archaeopress|location=Oxford|isbn=9781407303710|display-authors=etal}}
  • Aubry & Mangado 2006{{cite book|author1=Aubry, Thierry |author2=Mangado Llach, Javier|title=The Côa valley (Portugal) : lithic raw material characterisation and the reconstruction of Upper Palaeolithic settlement patterns|year=2006|publisher=In: Notions de territoire et de mobilité : exemples de l'Europe et des premières nations en Amérique du Nord avant le contact européen : actes des sessions présentées au Xe congrès annuel de l'Association européenne des Archéologues (EAA), Lyon, 8–11 sept|pages=41–49}}
  • Hunt Ortiz 1996{{cite book|last=Hunt Ortiz, M.A.|title=La explotación de los recursos minerales en Europa y la Península Ibérica durante la prehistoria.|year=1996|publisher=Universidad de Valladolid}}
  • Matías Rodríguez, R. 2005{{cite journal|last=Matías Rodríguez, R.|title=Origen de la minería.|journal=Cimbra|year=2005|volume=362}}
  • Weisgerber & Slotta 1999{{cite book|vauthors=Weisgerber G, Slotta R|title=5000 Jahre Feuersteinbergbau : die Suche nach dem Stahl der Steinzeit; Ausstellung im Deutschen Bergbau-Museum Bochum vom 24. Oktober 1980 bis 31. Januar 1981|year=1999|publisher=Deutsches Bergbau-Museum|location=Bochum|isbn=9783921533666|edition=3., verb., erw. u. aktualisierte Aufl.}}

See also

References

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External links

  • http://www.flintsource.net/
  • {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060108054301/http://www.minesdespiennes.org/ Article title]}}
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20120415063337/http://bioge.ubbcluj.ro/~otis.crandell/cart/
  • http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba72/feat2.shtml
  • [https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/YwLyk055hOVVLg 'Globalising archaeology: producing tools in the Neolithic] on Google Arts& Culture

Category:Prehistoric mines