Evidence for Prehistoric Salt Extraction Rediscovered in the Hungarian Central Mining Museum
Harding, Anthony; Szemán, Attila
Date: 31 May 2011
Article
Journal
The Antiquaries Journal
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Publisher DOI
Abstract
This paper describes a group of wooden objects (a trough, ladder, mallet and other pieces) found
in 1817 in a salt mine in north-eastern Austria-Hungary, now Ukraine, which have recently
come to light in the Hungarian Central Mining Museum in Sopron. It presents new radiocarbon
dates indicating that the objects date to the Bronze ...
This paper describes a group of wooden objects (a trough, ladder, mallet and other pieces) found
in 1817 in a salt mine in north-eastern Austria-Hungary, now Ukraine, which have recently
come to light in the Hungarian Central Mining Museum in Sopron. It presents new radiocarbon
dates indicating that the objects date to the Bronze Age, except for one that belongs to the early
medieval period. Their function is briefly considered in the context of recent excavation and survey
work in Romania, and specifically the remarkable discoveries from Ba˘ ile Figa near Beclean,
northern Transylvania, where several similar troughs and other objects have been found. Taken
together, the finds shed light on the scale of salt exploitation in central and eastern Europe in
prehistoric times.
Archaeology and History
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
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