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| Mineral techniques at Sainte-Marie-Aux-Mines during the Rennaissance Period |
by Frédéric LATASSE
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Another advantage to digging by hand is that miners could mark pointers in the rock to either guide and facilitate the course of the dig into the mountain (they followed faults and fractures, for example) or to continue the working of the mine thanks to mineral onsite markers.
Thus, the miner would attempt to give the gallery its final shape and his sole aim would be to access the mineral-rich areas as quickly as possible and in the most comfortable conditions.
In most cases, two miners would simultaneously dig the mine, thus generally doubling the output. The head miner (or Hauer) would work the upper part of the gallery while the 'Sitzort' (average height 1m40cm) would do most of the cutting work. The Hauer goes back over what the Sitzort has done, in order to give the gallery its final height and shape. He also ensures that there is a gradient of approximately 1% for the water to be channelled towards the exit without causing a drop in the height of the gallery.
Not only do we now have access to a network which stretches for several kilometres, but the painstaking digging of the mines also led to a study of working faces and remnants of tools that constitutes a particularly interesting source of information.
The working faces found in the final part of each gallery are working proof of the miners' logical approach to their work. Some of these working-faces are veritable sculptured art. Their successive grooves and curves constitute the final stage of skilled and unfinished work.
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Click on the picture for a larger image
Planche de la Rouge myne Saint-Nicolas de la Croix par H.Gross
Plusieurs niveaux de galeries sont reliés par des puits verticaux équipés d'échelles. Certaines parois sont boisées. On observe le transport du minerai grâce à des chariots guidés sur une voie de roulage. Dans le dépilage inférieur, six mineurs abattent le minerai à l'aide de marteaux et de pointerolles, trois autres mineurs travaillent la roche à l'aide de coins enfoncés à la masse. Un décombreur transporte le minerai dans une auge en bois.
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The detailed analysis of traces of tools on the lateral faces of the galleries is essential in an area where several of the mine paths cross over. Following these traces allows us to define the direction and therefore the dynamics of the mining.
Transporting the materials :
The rubble caused by the tunnelling can hamper the dig unless it is quickly removed. The miners would regularly gather it into wooden troughs using hoes and then tip it either into large vats at the bootom of wells ( from where winches would dispose of it) or into wagons or "chiens de mines".
The use of "chiens de mines" mounted onto a wagon track became widespread in the sixteenth century and maximized the systematic and smooth removal of materials from galleries of 50 metres or more to the surface. Although we haven't actually found these "chiens de mines" in the galleries of Sainte-Marie, we have nevertheless a fairly accurate idea of their shape and capacity thanks to iconographical illustrations.
The wagons were comprised of wooden boxes ( on four wheels ; two small ones at the front and two larger ones at the rear) which could hold between 150 and 300 kilograms of mineral materials. The wheels of the wagons were not in direct contact with the gallery floor but moved along wooden wagon tracks. A steering brake, fixed to the front of the wagon and sliding between both rails, would steer the "chien de mine" at forks and around bends.
Remains of these wagon tracks can still be found everywhere in the galleries of Sainte-Marie and some excellently preserved examples have inspired archaeological studies. The tracks are made of a series of wooden flatfish( ?) ( known as Gestangen by sixteenth century German miners ) which were set about 35cm apart from each other , and pegged together with joints and placed across the gallery. They were often wedged against the base of of the rock face and sometimes were even raised to allow water to flow along the floor of the gallery.
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| Last update : 06.19.2007 |
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