High-Altitude Pyrenees Cave Uncovers Long-Term Copper Mining in Bronze Age
Archaeologists excavating Cave 338 in the high Pyrenees have uncovered clues of repeated, long-term copper production dating from about 3500 BCE to 1000 BCE, including 23 hearths and crushed green mineral fragments likely malachite, a child’s tooth and other artefacts suggesting a mining camp and possibly burial use; only 6 square meters have been excavated so far with plans to go deeper.
