Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T22:18:49.924Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

I.4 - Mineral resources

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Peter Claughton
Affiliation:
University of Exeter
Julia Crick
Affiliation:
University of Exeter
Elisabeth van Houts
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Get access

Summary

Britain has long enjoyed a reputation for its mineral wealth. Bede, writing in the early eighth century, noted that it had ‘many veins of metals, as copper, iron, lead and silver’. Henry of Huntingdon, in about 1130, added tin to that list but commented that silver was uncommon, being ‘received from the neighbouring parts of Germany with which an extensive commerce is carried out by the Rhine’.

Much of the evidence for the demand and production of minerals in the period to 1200 comes from the increased generation and survival of documentary sources, in particular, during the latter part of the period, the records of English government (see Chapter VI.2). The archaeological record is at best fragmentary, and few overviews of any value have yet been published. There is, however, sufficient evidence to indicate that production increased substantially in the three centuries covered by this volume. Although metals had particular social and economic significance, other mineral resources were of equal, if not greater, practical importance. Salt was an essential of life at a period and in a climate which allowed for no other means of preserving food over the winter, ensuring a continuity of production. It was one of the resources considered here, along with limestone and chalk burned for mortar, which were totally consumed without prospect of being reused or recycled. In contrast, the ability to reuse some materials might mean that quarrying or mining was delayed until other sources were exhausted.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×