>Does anyone have any references for Roman coal mining and it's effect on
>people working with it, either connected with smelting of metals or mining
>itself?
>I've come across a reference from a study on cranial bones done at the
>University of Bradford which mentions the effects of coal fumes/dust on the
>sinuses, but that's all.
>I am particularly interested in mining in the Flintshire area in N Wales.
Nothing to do with coal, but about Romans mining clay in Britain
About 30 years ago I paid a technical visit to a company mining Fullers Earth or Bentonite in Bedfordshire.
I was asking about the reserves and was told there was less than they originally expected.
The deposit had been recorded through history, back to Roman times. It was apparently one of the three important deposits of Fullers Earth in Britain known to the Romans. Thus from all the past mentions the geologists knew it was there. They mapped out the size and depth of the deposit using Wanner resistivity methods, and drilled a few holes to check the geophysics and establish the quality,
Then the stripping started, and then the mining. Soon after that a great number of brick-lined tunnels were discovered, and "half" the deposit was missing. It had been mined out nearly 2000 years earlier by the Romans.
Was this true, or was it more of a well polished tale?
Anybody have personal experience of this place?
Alan
Alan Trevarthen
Gwened/Vannes
Morbihan, (The little sea)
Breizh/Bretagne/Brittany
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Me zo ganet é kreiz ar mor
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