Mining in Roman Britain

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Mining was one of the most prosperous activities in Roman Britain. Britain was rich in resources such as copper, gold, iron, lead, salt, silver, and tin, and these materials were much needed to run the Roman Empire. The abundance of mineral resources in the British Isles was likely one of the reasons for the Roman conquest of Britain.

Background

In 43 C.E., Emperor Claudius invaded Britain, and succeeded where Julius Caesar had failed. The majority of Britain was soon under Roman rule, and so were its resources. Britain was a land full of timber, good farmland, and especially metals. The Celts, who were native to Britain, had mined these minerals for centuries, but when the Romans came, the scale of the operations changed dramatically. The Romans needed what Britain had: especially the gold, silver, and lead.

Lead mining

Lead was essential to the smooth running of the Roman Empire. It was used for piping, pewter, and gutters for villas, as well as a source of silver. The largest Roman lead mines were located in Mendip, South West England. In 49 C.E., six years after the invasion and conquest of Britain, the Romans had the lead mines of Mendip and those of North West England and Wales running at full shift. By 70 C.E., Britain had surpassed Hispania as the leading lead-producing province. The Spanish soon lodged a complaint with Emperor Claudius, who in turn put limits on the amount of lead being produced in Britain. However, these limits were ignored and had the opposite effect on British lead production.

Silver extraction

The most important use of lead was the extraction of silver. Lead and silver were often found together, with the silver being encased in the lead ore. The Roman economy was based on silver, as the majority of coins were minted from the precious metal.

The process of extraction, cupellation, was fairly simple. First, the ore was heated until the lead, which contained the silver, separated from the rock. The lead was removed, and heated up to 1100° Celsius using hand bellows. At this point, the silver separated from the lead, and was put into molds which, when cooled, would form ingots that were to be sent all over the Roman Empire for minting.

Gold mining

Britain's gold mines were located in Wales at Dolaucothi. The Romans discovered the Dolaucothi vein soon after their invasion, and they used hydraulic mining methods to prospect the hillsides before discovering rich veins of gold-bearing quartzite. The remains of the several aqueducts and water tanks above the mine are still visible today. A fort, settlement and bath-house were set up nearby in the Cothi Valley. The mine produced Welsh gold.

Deep mining shafts were dug into the earth on two hills near Dolaucothi. Once the ore was removed, it would be crushed by heavy hammers until reduced to a fine dust. Then, the dust would be washed in a stream of water where the rocks and other debris would be removed, the gold dust and flakes collected, and smelted into ingots. The ingots would be sent all across the Roman world, where they would be minted or put into vaults.

Iron mining

There were many iron mines in Roman Britain. The index to the Ordnance Survey Map of Roman Britain lists 33 iron mines: 67% of these are in the Weald and 15% in the Forest of Dean. Great amounts of iron were needed to fuel the Roman war machine, and Britain was the perfect place to fill that need.

Many underground mines were constructed by the Romans. Once the raw ore was removed from the mine, it would be smashed to bits, then washed. The less dense rock would wash away, leaving behind the iron, which would then be smelted using the bloomery method. The iron was heated up to 1500° C using charcoal. The remaining slag was removed and generally dumped into a nearby stream or marsh.

After being smelted, the iron was sent to forges, where it was reheated, and formed into weapons or other useful items.

Working conditions

The majority of mine workers were slaves. The work conditions were terrible, and up to 12% of miners died every year.

Modern reminders

The Caves of the Mendip Hills, from which much of Britain's lead was removed, are quite a tourist draw. The Dolaucothi Gold Mines are also a tourist site, and many people go to see the place where Welsh gold was produced as early as the first century. Many watersheds in England have iron slag and rusty water contaminating them, but efforts are being made to remove much of the waste.

References

External links

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Last updated on Sunday March 09, 2008 at 03:23:25 PDT (GMT -0700)
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