ABSTRACT This paper is focused on the “paths of human history” in relation to the geological occurrence patterns of the following natural resources: stone, copper, tin, iron, gold, and coal. The abundant occurrence of flint in the Near East has influenced toolmaking and maybe the moment when early men discovered how to control fire. The scarcity of tin stimulated an early long distance trade during the Bronze Age. The abundant occurrence of iron, on the other hand, offered tools for everyday agriculture and “democratized” weaponry. The scarcity of gold, plus its durability, made it perfect for money, and therefore mining of gold strongly influenced economic history. The use of coal revolutionized the use of energy and industrialization. From making knives to controlling fire, from developing world trade to stimulating agriculture and war, from creating a global economy to increasing, as well as highlighting, the great differences between haves and have nots, from forming societies to destroying environments, the role of ores and their occurrences were essential.

Abstract Old chalk and flint mine workings occur widely across southern and eastern England. Over 3500 mines are recorded in the national Stantec Mining Cavities Database and more are being discovered each year. The oldest flint mines date from the Neolithic period and oldest chalk mines from at least medieval times, possibly Roman times. The most intensive period for mining was during the 1800s, although some mining activities continued into the 1900s. The size, shape and extent of the mines vary considerably with some types only being found in particular areas. They range from crudely excavated bellpits to more extensive pillar-and-stall styles of mining. The mines were created for a series of industrial, building and agricultural purposes. Mining locations were not formally recorded so most are discovered following the collapse of the ground over poorly backfilled shafts and adits. The subsidence activity, often triggered by heavy rainfall or leaking water services, poses a hazard to the built environment and people. Purpose-designed ground investigations are needed to map out the mine workings and carry out follow-on ground stabilization after subsidence events. Where mine workings can be safely entered they can sometimes be stabilized by reinforcement rather than infilling.

Over recent decades, numerous studies have highlighted the importance of opal, chalcedony and quartz varieties, chiefly in volcanic, but also in metamorphic and sedimentary environments. The focus is to define accurately their structures, composition and properties, as well as to identify the factors controlling the formation and the ageing of different forms of silica. In the field of archaeological sciences efficient discriminants are the bases from which the origin and provenance of materials may be traced. Substantial efforts were made in the attempt to combine geochemical, mineralogical, petrographic and geological features with archaeological and archaeometric information. However the results show that data integration is complicated, and several unanswered questions remain. On the one hand, archaeological research has focused on technological and ethnographic aspects, mainly concerning use-wear and heat-treatment studies. Mineralogical characterization has often been limited to the identification of the material, frequently by Raman microspectroscopy alone. On the other hand, the Earth sciences have provided basic mineralogical, crystal-chemical and geological knowledge, but failed to provide a systematic data collection of sources and their geochemistry. As a consequence, large gaps persist in the identification of archaeological opals, chalcedonies and quartz varieties, and in the geographic mapping of possible sources. In this context, the present review aims to summarize the current academic debate on such issues, possibly to encourage further work in the field. After a brief introduction to terminology, the structure of opals, their colours and properties are discussed, followed by an introduction to silica dissolution/precipitation and opal-formation processes. The next section reviews the information available on use of opals and provenance from historical sources, mainly Pliny the Elder, followed by a short list of ancient and modern opal supply areas, together with a (necessarily incomplete) summary of the geological and geochemical information. The discussion then encompasses chalcedony, agate and chalcedony varieties (carnelian, sard, onyx, sardonyx, chrysoprase, Cr-chalcedony, ‘gem silica’ or ‘chrysocolla chalcedony’ and heliotrope), following the same scheme as was adopted for opals. Terminology, distinguishing features, formation conditions, information derived from Pliny’s books, past and current supply areas and, finally, archaeometric provenance issues are addressed for each type of material. As for chalcedony, a comprehensive note on moganite has been included. The next section focuses on chert, flint and jasper. Given the large amount of materials available on this topic, the present review must necessarily be considered introductory and partial. The discussion aims to provide useful indications on how to distinguish chert from flint and chert from jasper; secondly, the information provided by Pliny and the archaeometric state of the art on these materials is reviewed. The last section examines quartz varieties: hyaline quartz (rock crystal), milky quartz, smoky quartz, rose and pink quartz, amethyst, citrine, prasiolite and blue quartz. An exhaustive mineralogical discussion on quartz is beyond the scope of this review; conversely a review of the historical information is provided, together with a brief list of major supply areas, a summary of the archaeometric studies performed on these materials, as well as an indication of the geological literature which can be used proficiently for provenance studies.

Abstract Recent underwater archaeological surveys recovered hundreds of flint artefacts between depths of 18 and 21 m at Cala Tramontana, a small bay located in the eastern part of Pantelleria Island. Most of the flint artefacts indicate debitage, and are characterized by cores and flakes without any specific morphology. Different lithic tools were also identified, such as fragments of blades, truncations, end-scrapers, points and crested blades. An initial hypothesis is that this lithic industry represents the oldest traces of human visitation to the island, possibly related to the exploitation of the nearby obsidian source, and favoured because of the sheltered coastal configuration of Cala Tramontana and Cala Levante with respect to the dominant winds and related storms. However, the present-day coastal setting in the bay is rather inhospitable, with high cliffs and difficult marine access. In contrast, palaeo-landscape reconstructions by means of high-resolution multibeam bathymetry reveal the possible presence of a small palaeo-beach in the inner part of the bay when the sea level was 15 m lower than at present. By comparing this palaeo-sea level with the eustatic curve (and by excluding possible vertical movements), we roughly estimate an age of the lithic industry of 9.6–7.7 cal ka BP.