Abstract; Pre-inventory of ancient mines of Lorraine Warndt Area A Chrono-typological Approach of mining technologies in North Eastern France

Résumé: Pré-inventaire des mines anciennes du Warndt Lorrain, secteur nord Approche chrono-typologique des techniques minières

Mikaël Atton (1)

1 INDIana – UNIversitas

The Warndt belongs to the Sarro-Lorraine region which forms a homogeneous and particular geological and geographical entity located in the North-Center part of the Moselle Department in France between Saarlouis in the Northwest, Saint-Avold in the South and Forbach in the East. The lead-silver and copper mineralisation is located In the upper Buntsandstein sandstones layers (intermediate sandstone layers) which constitute the main part of the geology of this area. This metallic ore deposit determined very early the settingup of mining works on the surface and underground, with shafts or adits, which evolved according to the periods, the technologies, the methods of concession and the nature of the metallic ores which was researched This report aims to take back, in an exhaustive way, the researches on this mining district and to realize new investigations at the same time on the outcrops and underground of the more important mining sites, like Grande Saule (Great Willow), or Bering Mines, which could reveal ancient mining works. The first part of the report is drawing up a current inventory and a detailed history of the researches since the end of the years 1970. Researches in the National Archives, in the archives department of Moselle, Meurthe-etMoselle and in the national Libraries of the French School of Mines of Paris were engaged; they contribute to enlighten the mining history of this district, particularly for modern and contemporary periods. Four years of intensive field prospections in Northern Warndt allowed collecting a lot of information and mining traces. About 438 unpublished mining entrances have been located and inventoried in a database what establishes a wide potential of archaeological sites. The study of galleries sections, front face, toolmarks and lamp traces constitutes the third part of this report. Thus, it leans on an original approach of analysis and identification of stoping markswhich is abundantly illustrated. Underground, mining exploration and recognitions allowed to observe numerous evidences of works among them a few of them are previous to the appearance of black powder, the dating is to be confirmed. By comparing the data recently acquired by the archaeologists of the Deutsche Bergbau Museum of Bochum, on close mines dated the IIIth century BC., and observations led inside wide underground networks as Bleiberg or Great Willow, no doubt that there are real similarities both in the layout of the ore deposit and in the morphology of the galleries. The exhaustive inventory of these mining sites: waste deposits, mines entrances, metallurgical sites, has been edited in a second volume ; it contains georeferenced index cards with maps. Field prospections and underground investigations have brought elements allowing to understand the organization and the dynamics of these exploitations thorough the time and especially to map exactly this mining district, so showing the dispersal of sites and their distribution in the geomorphological context. The evolution and the perfection of certain works during the specific so called “Saur period” is an example in the Warndt. On the German side, these works are indicated under the term of "Egyptian style ". Indeed, their morphology gives a structural aspect being similar to an Egyptian architecture. Finally, Warndt underground mines are an exceptional conservatory of marks. Underground landscapes allow redrawing an evolution of technologies over several centuries of history. Their location and the bedrock composition constitute a key factor in the conservation of these remains. All these elements make of Warndt an area of study and a territory dominated by ore resources extraction in a geo-archaeological context particularly full of remains.

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société

Mikaël Atton. Résumé: Pré-inventaire des mines anciennes du Warndt Lorrain, secteur nord Approche chrono-typologique des techniques minières. 2014. ⟨hal-01667333⟩