TUŽINA, SLOVAKIA—The Slovak Spectator reports that evidence of gold mining in the fourteenth century has been found in two areas of the Malá Magura hills, on a slope above the Tužina Stream in western Slovakia, by researchers from Hornonitrianske Museum. Two tunnels and a field of exploration pits have been found in the larger of the two sites. If a gold vein was found in a pit, the miners would weigh the profitability of digging a tunnel. Traces of a cabin, known as a krámik, were also found on the slope. Parts of a metal lamp and tools including a mining wedge were uncovered illegally at the smaller site, and handed over to the museum through an intermediary. “The lamp is a rarity because it shows that miners entered the underground area in Tužiná,” said archaeologist Dominika Andreánska. “It complements the overall picture of gold mining in Upper Nitra.” To read about a 1,600-year-old mummified sheep's leg uncovered in an Iranian salt mine, go to "Salty Snack."
