Segers-Glocke, Christiane [Editor]; Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege [Editor]; Institut für Denkmalpflege [Editor]; Balck, Friedrich [Oth.]: Arbeitshefte zur Denkmalpflege in Niedersachsen: Aspects of mining and smelting in the Upper Harz Mountains (up to the 13th/14th century) - in the early times of a developing European culture and economy (St. Katharinen: Scripta Mercaturae Verl., Heft 22.2000)

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periods. Numerous pits (Fig. 7), like pearls on a string, signal the existence of old
mining operations. But we can only date them with the aid of historical sources.
However, recent fieldwork in co-operation with the German Mining Museum Bo-
chum promises to uncover unexpected relicts of very early mining.

b. Supporting industries

The exploitation of the ore deposits was dependent on the Supporting Indu-
stries as well as the supply of provisions from agricultural producers. These did
not participate in mining and smelting, but were indispensable to them. Most
important was the forest-work (UHDE 1976/77. Schubart 1967/68), for the
timber framing of tunnels and pits, as well as for the production of charcoal
(Fig. 8), the essential source of energy for the smelting process (HlLLEBRECHT
1982; 1986). Many artefacts of these activities are preserved in the contemporary
environment. For instance, we found about 25 charcoal production sites, dating
from two periods, in the vicinity of the smelting site at Johanneser Kurhaus near
Clausthal-Zellerfeld. During the first period during the 8th century AD the original
vegetation mix consisted of deciduous and evergreen trees, whereas for the 2nd
period, only about 100 years later, the typical signs of destruction can

Fig. 8
Planing of a medieval charcoal kiln, according to Hillebrecht 1982, 21.