Ocna de Fier
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Ocna de Fier (Hungarian: Vaskő) is a commune in Caraş-Severin County, in the Banat region of south-western Romania.
History
The Ocna de Fier and Dognecea area is among the few in the world that supported almost continuous mining for about 4000 years.Archaeological evidence shows that mining in the area goes back to the Bronze Age (1900 - 1700 BC). The main ore exploited by that time was native copper from the oxidation zone of the deposit. Later on, the important iron ores occurring in the area determined the gradual switch from copper to iron mining.
Mining was an important activity of the ancient inhabitants of present day Romanian territory, the Dacians. After the Roman conquest in 106, mining expanded all over the Roman province of Dacia, Ocna de Fier area included. At Berzovis (present day Berzovia, ten kilometres north-west of Ocna de Fier) a Roman metallurgy school, Schola fabrorum, was established, showing the keen interest the Romans had in metal extraction. At Cracul cu Aur (= "Golden Hill" in Romanian), north of Ocna de Fier, old Roman gold mining galleries are still to be seen. They are similar to the much better preserved ones at Rosia Montana ("Verespatak") in the Apuseni Mountains.
The "Constantin Gruescu" Iron Aesthetic Mineralogy Museum is located in Ocna de Fier.
External links
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