Silvia Guideri1, D. Brocchini1, L. Dallai2, L. Deravignone3, G. Della Valle4, L. Montomoli4, M. Negri5, D. Morganti4 & I. Pozzato4
1 Parchi Val di Cornia S.p.A, Piombino, Italy – brocchini@parchivaldicornia.it
2 Università di Siena – Scienze Storiche e dei Beni Culturali
3 Gruppo Speleologico Maremmano CAI, Grosseto, Italy
4 Associazione Asini a Prata, Grosseto, Italy
5 Gruppo Speleologico Massa Marittima, Massa Marittima, Italy
New studies on the ancient mines of the Archeological Mines Park of San Silvestro (Tuscany)
ABSTRACT
The Archaeological Mines Park of San Silvestro is part of the Campiglia mining area. It represents its most significant historical core. The Park covers a surface of around 450 hectares and its main characteristic is the richness of mining activity traces towards copper, lead and silver. The mining activity probably started during the copper age, developed during the Etruscan period and continued until 1979, when the last mine was closed. Many cavities of the Campiglia are “cave-mines’ resulting from both natural events and the action of ancient miners, who searched for metalliferous minerals. In Campiglia there are hundreds of Etruscan, medieval and modern mining excavations, tunnels from the 19th and 20th centuries. In the last couple of years a new research activity for the enhancement and protection of these sites have been restarted. Speleologists, archaeologists and geologists have been involved in a project to allow everyone to discover the oldest underground remains of human activities. The team is now involved in the survey of a mine of the etruscan-roman period, probably one of the biggest at that time. Its study will allow a significant increase in the knowledge on ancient mining activity in that area.
Relazione presentata alla conferenza “Archeologia e Speleologia, Subterranean Speleology” svoltasi a Roma il 2 Luglio 2019.
https://www.scintilena.com/conferenza-a-roma-su-archeologia-e-speleologia-subterranean-archaeology/07/03/