Surveys

Hammer-stones - hand held crushing implements from Copa Hill, Cwmystwyth

Field work has been carried out in mid-Wales (Plynlimon area) to locate sites of ‘primitive mining’.

These sites have been identified by the presence of the ubiquitous stone mining hammers and other tools (hammer/anvil stones), small eroded pits and opencuts on copper/lead veins, and the overgrown shallow spoil mounds with weathered fireset mine waste and charcoal.


	Map shows mines (triangles), mineral lodes (dotted lines) and prospection areas


	Field examination of sites has also been undertaken elsewhere within the UK - Snowdonia, Anglesey, Lake District, Southern Scotland, Peak District (Ecton Hill), Forest of Dean, Devon and Cornwall. More detailed topographical surveys have been carried out within areas rich in early mining remains.




		Soil geochemical surveys have been undertaken to help detect early mining and smelting sites using a portable XRF (X-Ray Fluorescence) instrument.


	This has yielded useful results on the Great Orme’s Head, Llandudno (N.Wales) where areas of Bronze Age mining and ore washing at spring sites has been revealed through the distribution of high copper anomalies in soil revealed by spatial mapping and sampling at 50-100 metre intervals.





		Copper in ppm in soils courtesy of D.Jenkins/A.Owen


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