Underground chert mining
Minería de sílex con pozos y galerías
- Date
- c. 33 ka · confidence high
- Place
- Nazlet Khater 4, Tahta, Upper Egypt
- Credited to
- Homo sapiens
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
Vertical shafts and underground galleries to extract quality flint, with picks and an associated burial. The first stone mine for toolmaking.
What it led to
- Intensive production and export of blades: regional specialisation
- Excavation and shoring engineering: geological knowledge
- A model for the Neolithic mines of Spiennes and Grimes Graves
Built on
- Hematite mining (Lion Cavern)c. 48 ka
- Blade technology (Mode 4)c. 50 ka
- Hematite mining (Lion Cavern)
- Blade technology (Mode 4)