Publication details
Medieval Miners and Smelters: Silver Production, Settelemnt and Environment
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| Year of publication | 2024 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | The lecture will present the results of the multidisciplinary mining archaeological research in Central Czech Highlands (CZ) in the last 10 years, which is focused on the study of medieval mining and smelting sites. It will show the two most archaeologically visible phenomena that were characteristic of silver production. Silver was an essential coinage metal, blood in the veins of the “Old World” economies, and the a means of power projection of the ruling elites. The first was the existence of settlements of miners and metallurgists. These settlements were in all respects different from agricultural villages and towns. They existed usually temporarily, but at the time of the great boom of silver production in the Czech Kingdom in the 13th century it was an important part of the social and settlement structure of the mountains and highlands. The second was the impact of metal production on the environment, especially the drastic deforestation and contamination of soils with heavy metals. |
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