Mining and Metallurgy in Medieval Europe - Early Middle Ages, 5th To 10th Centuries

Early Middle Ages, 5th To 10th Centuries

The social, political, economic stagnation and decline that followed the decadence of the Roman World affected Europe, throughout the early medieval period, and had critical impact upon the technological progress, trade and social organization. Technological developments that affected the course of metal production were only feasible within a stable political environment, and this was not the case until the 9th century (Martinon-Torres & Rehren in press, a).

During the first medieval centuries, the output of metal was in a steady decline and constraint in small scale activities. Miners adopted methods much less efficient than those of the roman times. Ores were extracted only from shallow depths or from remnants of former abandoned mines, assuming that the old shafts weren't already sunk. The vicinity of the mine to villages or towns was also a determinant factor when deciding about working on site, because of the high cost of material transportation (Martinon-Torres & Rehren in press, b). It seems like only the output of iron diminished less in relation to the rest of the base and precious metals until the 8th century. This fact, correlated with the dramatic decrease in copper production, in particular, may indicate a possible displacement of copper and bronze artifacts from iron ones (Forbes 1957, 64; Bayley et al. 2008, 50).

By the end of the 9th century, economic and social conditions, which dictated the increased need of metal for agriculture, arms, stirrups, and decoration, started to favor metallurgy and a slow but steady general progress was noted. Smelting sites were multiplied and new mines were discovered and exploited, like the well-known Mines of Rammelsberg, close to the town of Goslar by the Harz Mountains. Open-cast mining and metallurgical activities were mostly concentrated in the Eastern Alps, Saxony, Bohemia, Tuscany, the Rhineland, Gaul and Spain (Nef 1987). French, Flemish, but mainly German miners and metallurgists were the generators of metal production.