The mining archaeology department at the Saxon State Office for Archaeology is dedicated to researching medieval and early modern mining during the 1st and 2nd mining eras in the Ore Mountains. With the discovery of a site near Schellerhau in the Eastern Ore Mountains, Bronze Age tin mining has fortunately been added since 2018.
Montanarchaeology is characterised by the collaboration of scientists from a wide range of disciplines. Since 2008, archaeologists, historians, surveyors, geologists, dendrochronologists, geophysicists, forestry scientists, landscape and climate researchers, computer scientists and anthropologists on both sides of the border have been working on the documentation and interpretation of archaeological mining relics both above and below ground.
The results obtained as part of the Objective 3 and Interreg VA projects ArchaeoMontan 2012-2015, ArchaeoMontan 2018 and Archiv-Net are being incorporated into this process. Others, such as the Central Europe project VirtualArch, serve to valorise this culturally and historically important group of monuments.
In addition to researching the medieval and early modern mines of the Saxon Ore Mountains, the focus is also on the traces left above ground, many of which are still recognisable in the local forests today. These are also used to reconstruct the working, living and environmental conditions of the miners. Questions about the preparation, processing or trade of the extracted ore, but also about the effects of mining on the landscape and environment during the prehistoric, historic and pre-industrial periods are the main focus. The data is collected, analysed and evaluated as non-destructively as possible using a wide range of methods within mining archaeology (including LiDAR, drones, photogrammetry, geophysics, archaeometry, dendrology, geology, mineralogy, archaeobotany, palynology, C14, OSL).
Great importance is attached to scientific research - including master's theses and dissertations - as well as to their accessibility. The results are presented to both the scientific community and the interested public through conferences, workshops, lectures and publications.
Since August 2018, the new MiBERZ - Museum for Medieval Mining in Dippoldiswalde Castle has been exhibiting the numerous mining archaeological findings developed by ArchaeoMontan. The MiBERZ traces medieval mines that were forgotten centuries ago. It displays artefacts that are unique in Europe and provide an insight into the life and work of medieval miners above and below ground. Early technologies and equipment used in the extraction and processing of the coveted silver ore are vividly explained. The rare exhibits, which are over 800 years old, are impressive due to their excellent state of preservation. Numerous media stations, a mine model as well as audio and video stations vividly demonstrate the underground mining worlds hidden directly beneath our feet.
