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The high-medieval mines of Dippoldiswalde, a town in the Ore Mountains in
Saxony, Germany, are unique in Europe. Archaeologists from the Archaeological
Heritage Office of Saxony were able to document and recover a large number of
very well-preserved pit timbers from the shafts and galleries dating from the
middle of the 12th to the end of the 13th century. These timbers not only give
insight into fascinating 800-year old mines, but also provide snapshots into past
forest composition.
Anatomical and dendrochronological examinations of more than 2,000
excavated timbers tell us what type of forest the miners found when they arrived
in Dippoldiswalde in the middle of the 12th century. Furthermore, they allow to
reconstruct how forest composition and land use changed during 100 years of
intensive mining exploitation. Insights from the ‘underground forest’ will be
highlighted.