Ancient Mining Landscapes

The economic importance of raw material exploitation, especially metal mining,
for communities in antiquity has long since been addressed. Only during recent
decades, however, have scholars increasingly focused the material remains. These
include not only the primary mining remains, such as underground workings, process
residues and installations for beneficiation, but also habitational sites and
infrastructural remains that emerged in the course of exploitation. The intention of
this panel at the 19th International Congress for Classical Archaeology was to
provide an insight on existing and emerging research on landscapes that were
distinctly transformed by mining. It aimed furthermore at discussing how mining
could affect not only the natural but also the cultural landscape. By focusing on
select case studies, the intention was to identify the material characteristics of
such areas, to highlight and explain differences and to discuss possible recurring
infrastructural and organisational patterns.