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Andalusia has been known since antiquity as an area that harbors exceptional mineral resources, exploited from prehistory to the present day. For example, it was the leading global producer of silver in Roman times, and of copper and lead in modern times. Today, mining and metallurgy are experiencing a strong resurgence with high expectations for investment, research, and innovation in resources and exploitation techniques.
Led by renowned specialists – archaeologists, historians, geologists, and mining engineers – coordinated by the full professor of Prehistory and Archaeology at the University of Seville, Mark A. Hunt Ortiz, issue 88 of the magazine ‘Andalusia in History’ delves into the millennia-long history of these activities in the community through ten articles.
The dossier begins with the article by geologist Antonio Carmona Ruiz and mining engineer Inmaculada Ramos Márquez titled ‘Mineral Resources of Andalusia’, which explores these relevant resources classified by substances. According to the data from the latest Mining Statistics of Spain in 2023, Andalusia leads in the value of mineral production with 34% of the national total, mainly due to copper, zinc, lead, silver, fluorite, strontium, sea salt, marble, and gypsum.
‘Urium’, Roman designation of the Río Tinto, refers to the mining settlement in the current town of Minas de Río Tinto in Huelva.
The methodology of archaeological study of the mining and metallurgical remains is explained in the text ‘Techniques of research in ancient mining and metallurgy’ by archaeologist Ignacio Montero Ruiz. The data provided by these minerals and metals help answer questions about the past and understand how metallurgical technology affected people’s lives. Next, the major phases of mining and metallurgy in Andalusia are addressed, starting with the article ‘Prehistoric Mining and Metallurgy’ by archaeologist Mark A. Hunt Ortiz, which deals with non-metallic antecedents – rocks and pigments – and the oldest metals produced by humans.
The next stage is handled by archaeologists Mercedes Murillo Barroso and Pablo González Zambrano in the article on ‘Phoenician Metallurgy in Tartessos’, a time of great changes and innovations coming from the Eastern Mediterranean, which radically changed the economic, social, political, and technological landscape compared to the previous period. Metallurgy was one of those technologies that managed to exploit new metals, intensify production, and expand trade. Next, the Roman phase is addressed by archaeologist Luis Arboledas Martínez with the intriguing title ‘Andalusia: the wealth of the genuine ‘El Dorado’ of Antiquity’. Andalusian mines were intensively exploited from the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD, reaching production levels that were only surpassed from the 19th century onwards.
The period following the Roman era is developed by archaeologist José María Martín Civantos in the article ‘Medieval Mining’, a significant yet unknown era in this activity. On the other hand, historian Manuel Castillo Martos explains the innovations that occurred during the Modern Age with the text ‘The achievement of silver ore amalgamation’. The article features two protagonists: Bartolomé de Medina, who invented the large-scale amalgamation process to extract silver from minerals, and mercury, an essential metal for amalgamation.
Image attributed to the Tren del Horcajo, which traveled from Peñarroya to Puertollano and Fuente del Arco, with a branch to the San Quintín mines.
Archaeologist Aquilino Delgado Domínguez takes on the next period in ‘Mining and Metallurgy in Andalusia during the 18th to 20th centuries’, followed by the article by geologist and mining engineer Emilio Romero Macías, ‘The links between the railroad and the mining industry’, which explains the fundamental role that this mode of transportation played in the development of this sector.
Finally, mining engineer Iván Carrasco, in the article ‘The current mining panorama in Andalusia’, presents the expansion of a thriving sector with a solid future in the European context, focusing on sustainability and energy transition.
Articles
Regarding the articles, issue 88 of the magazine includes ‘Las Horcadas: a forgotten loading dock on the Guadalquivir River’, written by Luis Parejo Fernández, about an unknown emergence between Trebujena and Lebrija that played a key role in river navigation. Manuel Herrera Carranza and Esteban Moreno Toral sign the article ‘Avenzoar, a universal physician in Al-Andalus’, rescuing the profile of this 11th-century Sevillian scientist comparable to figures like Avicenna.
On the other hand, Santiago Navarro de la Fuente explores the situation experienced by ‘Andalusian Jesuits in the Pacific during World War II’, while ‘A medieval database in Seville Cathedral’ by Diego Belmonte-Fernández details the characteristics of the White Book and the Endowment Book. This section concludes with Juan Carlos de Lara’s text on ‘Unknown drawings, poems, and oils by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer’.
Among the sections in the new issue, a special mention goes to an article ‘In Memoriam’, dedicated to Enrique Valdivieso, the art historian who passed away in February. Recognized for his studies on Spanish Baroque painting, he devoted his career to rescuing and revaluing artists of the Golden Age like Murillo and Zurbarán, and to the education of several generations of specialists. With the text by Magdalena Illán, the magazine ‘Andalusia in History’ pays a well-deserved tribute to this great master of art history.
Facilities for coal extraction in Villanueva del Río y Minas (Huelva).
Additionally, the ‘Andalusia in its documents’ section includes a text by Antonio Jurado and Sergio Páez, delving into the significance of document custody as an instrument of power in the archives of noble families, and a new installment of ‘Young Values’, with an article by Juan Antonio Báez, focusing on the use of textiles in the Cordovan Caliphate as an expression of power.
Magazine ‘Andalusia in History’
The magazine ‘Andalusia in History’ is a quarterly publication of historical dissemination edited by the Andalusian Studies Center Foundation (CENTRA) and directed by the full professor of Contemporary History at the University of Seville, José Antonio Parejo.