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.