The life of a silver mine in the 16th century, according to Heinrich Groff
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The rubble removers entering the mine [Print 9]
The stream of different types of miners begins with the "rubble removers", responsible for removing the dirt and the ore collected by the miners at their hammers. These are the poorest. They wear the work habit: the hood and the leather apron, worn behind (zoom 1) to protect from the humidity when working seated. Their tools are the hoe (a sort of pick) and the wooden trough to act as a shovel. The head miner (zoom 2) (the houttman) distributes the tallow. This is placed in the lamp and a reserve is kept in the caracteristic toolbag carried by every miner, which also contained flint and a knife.