the ores over charcoal fi res, heating them to temperatures
that would draw out useful metals in a pure and usable form.
Mining technology and the knowledge of smelting tech-
niques arose independently in China, India, central Asia, and
southeastern Asia.
Much of the ancient Chinese knowledge of mining and
metallurgy is contained in Shan hai jing (Th e Classic of
Mountains and Seas), a set of books of mythology and natural
science that was produced sometime between the third cen-
tury b.c.e. and the second century c.e. Th is classic summa-
rizes millennia of experimentation and observation,
classifying minerals and grouping surface rocks with the ores
that were likely to be found within and beneath them. By the
time it was written the Chinese had long been mining copper,
silver, gold, tin, and zinc. Th e authors carefully catalogued
properties of minerals known to them and listed the best
methods of fi nding and working mineral ores and stone.
Mining for iron ore eventually led to the discovery of magne-
tite, a rock that was attracted to iron ore and was used in the
fi rst navigational compasses. Th e Chinese also learned to drill
for petroleum, or “weak water,” a sticky black substance that,
in certain regions, seeped from the ground surface. Th e Chi-
nese used petroleum for axle grease and burned it for light.
Th e Chinese were the fi rst in the world to develop deep-
drilling technologies. Th ey fi rst carried out underground
drilling for the briny water present in deep aquifers, an un-
derground rock bed yielding groundwater. Th ey raised tall
derricks—platforms constructed from wood and bamboo—
and used iron-tipped bits to drill deep boreholes. Th e drills
were operated by hand and suspended from the derricks by
cables made of long bamboo strips (bamboo was strength-
ened by contact with water and was much more durable than
rope made of hemp). Miners raised and then dropped the bits
onto the rock at diff erent angles to chip away at it. Th e under-
ground water was raised by buckets or, under high pressure,
was forced to the surface and then directed to huge iron evap-
oration pans set up near the boring site. Th e pans were used
to boil off the water, which left a thin fi lm of salt—a valuable
commodity that was used to fl avor and preserve meat.
Some boreholes, which reached as deep as 5,000 feet, pro-
duced natural gas, which could be used as a fuel for light and
heat. Th e wells that produced only natural gas and not water
were known as fi re wells. Drilling for natural gas at these sites
dates to the second century c.e. Th e gas either was piped di-
rectly from the wellhead or, if present in suffi cient amounts,
was stored in underground tanks made of wood. Ventilators
in these tanks allowed the gas pressure to be controlled and
the gas to be released and collected when needed. Th e gas was
distributed by bamboo pipelines that led away from the bore-
hole; gas also could be transported using leather pouches.
Ancient mines have been discovered in Mesopotamia,
Anatolia, Iran, Afghanistan, and central Asia, where copper
and gold mines were being worked around 1500 b.c.e. Cen-
tral Asia was renowned for silver mining during this period,
while Anatolia was home to the world’s earliest ironmaking
industry. Afghanistan was famous as the source of lapis la-
zuli, a blue gemstone in high demand throughout the Middle
East and Egypt for use in statuary, jewelry, and clothing. Th e
Harappan civilization in India, which lasted from about 2600
to 1500 b.c.e., mined copper, gold, silver, alabaster, marble,
granite, basalt, and sandstone. Th e Harappans were skilled
in the smelting of copper and tin to make the alloy bronze;
their weapons were traded in Mesopotamia, India, and as far
west as Greece and central Europe. Harappan artisans used
marble and alabaster stone for use in making pottery, and
they also worked gold and silver mines for jewelry. Aft er the
decline of the Harappan civilization, the Indus Valley in what
is now Pakistan continued as an important center of iron and
steel production.
Diamonds were mined in ancient India, and rubies, sap-
phires, and amethyst were mined in what are now Myanmar,
Th ailand, and Vietnam. Mogok in Myanmar has been a cen-
ter of gem mining since the Bronze Age. Northern Myanmar
also yielded jadeite, the rock from which the highest-qual-
ity jade was and is still produced. (Th e Chinese have mined
and worshipped jade since Neolithic times and still use this
translucent green stone for decorative sculpture, jewelry, and
talismans.) Th e gem industry in Sri Lanka dates to about 500
b.c.e., when the island’s many high-quality gemstones were
set into portable jewelry that was traded throughout southern
Asia by Buddhist monks.EUROPE
BY MICHAEL J. O’NEAL
Th e extraction of stone, ores, and minerals was an impor-
tant complement to the farming economy of ancient Euro-
pean peoples. Early farmers mined fl int for their tools at sites
like Grimes Graves in England, Spiennes in Belgium, and
Kremenets in what is now Ukraine, where the high quality fl int
was extracted from veins several feet below the surface. Th ey
also quarried outcrops of stone like amphibolite to grind into
stone axes. Th e best-quality fl int and stone would be traded
over long distances. When the early farmers of northern and
western Europe began to build large stone tombs and monu-
ments called megaliths, either they used stones that were lying
about the landscape, or they quarried stones and transported
them over substantial distances. Th e bluestones that form the
innermost circles of standing stones at Stonehenge came from
the Preseli Mountains in Wales, 155 miles away.
Beginning around 5000 b.c.e. metals began to be used
fi rst for the manufacture of ornaments and then for tools. Th e
earliest metal to be mined and used extensively in the pro-
duction of tools, household implements, and other goods was
copper. Early copper mines from the fi ft h and fourth millen-
nia b.c.e. are found at places such as Aibunar in Bulgaria and
Rudna Glava in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Subse-
quently, copper sources were located in other parts of Europe,
such as in Liguria in northwestern Italy and at Mount Gabriel
in southwestern Ireland.746 mining, quarrying, and salt making: Europe