矿业废弃地景观、文化与遗产价值

（西班牙）胡安·曼努埃尔·卡诺·桑奇斯 王冬冬

目前，联合国教科文组织（UNESCO）的《世界遗产名录》中与矿业相关的财产类型包括金属矿和燃料矿、采石场、盐矿、冶炼和加工综合体、矿业城镇和景观等。这些财产从石器时代（若采用地质年代学可追溯到更早的时期）延续到21世纪，分布在除南极洲以外的所有大陆，涵盖文化、自然和混合遗产。由此可见，矿业活动甚为普遍，其蕴含的文化和自然价值受到广泛认可。全球还达成一定共识：矿业不仅是一项工业和经济活动，还是一种能够创造自然和文化景观的媒介，值得作为遗产加以保护。国际工业遗产保护委员会（TICCIH）作为保护此类遗产的国际组织，明确定义了工业遗产包括“选矿和冶炼的矿场和矿区”[1]。西班牙文化遗产研究所还于2007年编制了一部专题宪章，即《保护工业矿业遗产的埃尔比埃尔索宪章》（El Bierzo Charter for the Conservation of the Industrial Mineral Heritage，简称《埃尔比埃尔索宪章》），并于2008年获西班牙历史遗产委员会批准。该宪章指出了工业化时期矿业景观的价值，并制定了一系列保护和实现社会效益的方法[2]。此外，关于这一问题的文献[3-6]非常丰富，在此不再赘述。

本研究的主要目的既不是分析现有的文件和文本以总结当前的最新研究进展，也不是基于特定的案例研究以提供新的资料，而是从国际化和历时性的视角反思矿业作为遗产的价值。由此，本研究从3个层面展开：1）将矿业景观定义为历时性的自然和文化实体；2）描述矿业遗址和矿业工人的一般性文化特征，并重点关注全球范围内矿业工人的共同特征；3）从当前效能的视角，概述矿业遗址的遗产价值。本研究的目标是通过列举矿业废弃地的一系列共同特征以界定矿业文化和矿业遗产价值。这意味着本研究将高度概括矿业遗址的整体性，而不对每处遗址的特殊性进行深入探讨。因此，研究成果是基于复杂而多样的现实作出的高度凝练。

1 矿业景观

矿产资源开发常伴随经济增长、技术发展、社会进步及文化交流等，而废弃后的矿产地则通常被视为“黑暗地带”，长期面临污染、生态退化、矿灾导致的死亡以及停产引发的经济危机等困扰。矿业废弃地的遗产价值虽难以辨识，但仍存在着以其他方式解读的可能性。本研究不仅没有忽视矿业景观形成过程中的诸多问题，还从一种较为积极的视角，以建设性的方式来看待矿业活动带来的消极后果。矿业景观在本研究中被视为极其丰富的、多样化的资源，且有助于寻找21世纪世界范围内面临的部分生态、经济和社会等问题的解决方案。本研究高度概括矿业景观的4个主要特征。

1）矿业景观总是以自然和文化并存的状态存在。采矿活动离不开精确的地质勘探，与其他可以安置在任何具有良好交通网络地点的工业部门不同，采矿点必须锚定在矿产分布地上。这一特征总是强烈影响新定居点的建设，从而带来大规模的人口迁移。无论世界各地，矿石、燃料和其他地质资源地都见证了以资源为基础的新城镇的发展，有时也目睹了它们的衰败，例如20世纪初西班牙里奥廷托的南菲隆（Filón Sur）矿为了扩大生产而搬迁了一座村庄[7]。定居点是矿业景观中不可分割的一部分，它不仅与地质和生产相关，也与家庭和社会生活密切相连。全球著名的矿产地都有类似的定居点，如智利的塞维尔（Sewell）、葡萄牙的圣多明戈斯（São Domingos）和澳大利亚的卡彭达（Kapunda）等。矿业公司通过建设和发展功能齐全的定居点来吸引工人并使其向矿山聚集。矿业公司设计规划矿业城镇，并配备所有必要设施为工人提供一切生活必需品，但与此同时也“控制”了他们。由于这种共同的背景，矿业城镇通常具有相似的特征[8]。

2）采矿点锚定在矿产区的特点使其需要具备交通网络，通常情况下，借此形成的文化线路也兼具自然和文化的双重特性。如在中国北京的京西古道上留下了数百年来为北京城运输煤炭和其他商品的驮畜足迹，而这条古道本身也是一个历时性景观，浓缩了古代、近代和现代矿业的发展轨迹。在更大的空间范围内，近代早期西班牙与美洲之间建立了一条跨越大西洋的路线，通过该线路将混汞法中使用的汞从西班牙运到了美洲的银矿。尽管这条路线是殖民活动的主要航路，但在欧洲和美洲之间的文化交流以及全球化的早期发展中起到了根本作用。

3）矿业景观呈现出一个特质，即有相当一部分是不可见的[9]。这一特质在露天矿中体现得不甚明显，但在地下矿中表现得十分突出。在部分案例中，数千米的竖井和横巷构成了一个宏大的景观，只有通过地表采掘业的遗迹（如矸石堆等）才能观察到这一景观的冰山一角（图1）。这也造成了矿工对于矿产地的感知和游客的体验之间存在巨大的差异。尽管一些矿山公园提供了参观部分地下井巷的机会，但为了安全接待游客，往往会对其进行翻新和消毒，在地下工作的真实体验（如灰尘、噪声、气味等）通常都会被抹去[10]。

1 西班牙矿业景观Mining landscapes from Spain1-1 韦尔瓦省的科尔塔·阿塔拉亚矿山，曾是欧洲最大的露天开采地。放大图中有一节火车头，显示出工作范围之大Corta Atalaya (Huelva), once the largest open-pit exploitation in Europe. The zoomed excerpt shows a locomotive, which reveals the scale of the works1-2 科尔多瓦省的穆里亚诺山的地下景观，竖井和横巷的使用时间从罗马时期至20世纪早期Underground landscape in Cerro Muriano (Córdoba), whose shafts and galleries date from Roman times to the early 20th century

4）矿业景观通常具有历时性的特征，显示出深刻的年代印迹，如上文提到过的中国北京的京西煤矿。世界上还有许多著名案例，如塞尔维亚的鲁德纳·格拉瓦（Rudna Glava）古铜矿，于公元前6千纪—5千纪至公元前4千纪以及罗马时代被开采[11]；德国的赖迈尔斯堡（Rammelsberg）多金属矿，在整个公元2千纪被持续开采[12]。对于矿产的长期开采，不仅源于众多人类文明对于金属和其他地质矿产资源的长久需求，也得益于采矿和冶金技术发展的支撑。例如，18世纪纽科门发动机被运用在矿坑排水中，这使得英格兰康沃尔地区的锡矿和铜矿开采得以继续向下深入数百米。后来，改进后的康沃尔发动机和其他抽水泵在国际上的普及为世界上许多不同地区甚至是偏远地区的矿业繁荣打开了大门。这一见证全球采矿史发展的物质遗迹至今仍保存在英格兰、澳大利亚、西班牙和南非等地的康沃尔发动机房中[13]（图2）。

2 位于英格兰（2-1）、澳大利亚（2-2）、南非（2-3）的康沃尔发动机房Cornish engine houses in England (2-1), Australia (2-2) and South Africa (2-3)

2 矿业文化

文化可以被理解为一系列观念、行为模式、习俗和社会规则，可塑造出一个群体以区别于其他群体[14]。从广义上讲，这样的集合或系统是由环境高度塑造的，当环境具有显著且明确的特征时，文化表现得更为突出，矿业景观和矿业文化就是如此。尽管随着时间的推移，全球已遍布众多独具特色的工矿社区，但是矿业文化使矿业工人成为一个与众不同的群体。例如新石器时代比利时斯皮尼斯（Spiennes）开采燧石的矿工与近代早期玻利维亚波托西（Potosí）开采银矿的矿工之间，以及20世纪中国温州矾山开采明矾的矿工与现今刚果民主共和国开采钴矿的矿工之间，存在着巨大的差异。然而矿工群体普遍具有一系列与他们的工作和生活密切相关的共通性。这些共通性可被界定为一种矿业文化的写照，且在工业化时代体现得更为清晰和强烈。因此本研究将重点放在工业化时期由矿工群体塑造的矿业文化上。

矿工生活和文化中最具决定性的特点之一是他们的群体认同感。矿工强烈认同自己的工作，即便是在采矿活动结束后，矿工仍具有强烈的身份认同感。矿工对这一职业普遍带有自豪感，这份职业时刻要求矿工付出艰苦的努力，矿工也一直被视为推动国家和文明发展的主要贡献者。

矿工另一个可辨识的特征是他们与死亡的特殊关系。不仅矿业致命事故屡见不鲜，矿工还不得不面对因工作引起的一系列疾病，如硅肺病或铅中毒等，因此矿工的预期寿命通常较短。死亡的阴影令许多矿工过着朝不保夕的生活，尤其是在西方世界，由此或催生出强烈的宗教信仰，或导致充满罪恶的放荡生活，这2种情况共同存在于伊比利亚半岛[15]等地。由于早期工矿营地主要聚集青年单身男子，这些人最早被高于耕作的工资吸引，矿工生活放荡的情况也因此而加剧。许多矿业公司解决此类状况的办法是加强家长式作风计划的投资，尽管这有时会影响工作进度。联排房屋逐渐取代原来的营房以促进家庭的建立和社会的稳定[16-17]。与此同时，新的服务和设施在矿区激增，大部分由公司支持建设，如商店、学校、医院、电影院、社交俱乐部和体育设施等。上述家长式作风措施开展的目的是让矿工们远离放任无度的生活，过上更好、更稳定的生活。

凭借上述家长式作风计划，矿工还呈现出一个显著特点是接受过教育。开展矿工教育的一个主要原因是教育的实用性，教育使矿工具备能力去阅读和理解矿山新引进的技术说明。在当时大量人口还是文盲的社会，这一措施使得矿区学校的数量激增[18]（图3）。教育还带来了其他影响，如矿工革命和工人运动的蔓延。正是因为阅读，他们接触到了19世纪席卷全球的新的政治意识形态，比如社会主义。随着矿工的阶级意识增强，在许多国家他们成为左翼政治的坚定支持者[8]。

3 西班牙名为“河与矿的新村”的矿区学校School in the miners’ quarters of Villanueva del Río y Minas (Spain)

此外，与周边的农村地区相比，在矿业城镇中能够享受广泛而多样的娱乐服务。例如19世纪末因加拿大淘金热而繁荣起来的偏远城镇道森市，早在20世纪10年代就建有电影院（图4），但这个电影院是个独立企业，属于比较特殊的情况。而普遍的情况是，作为其家长式作风计划的一部分，电影院由矿业公司推动成立。中国则在20世纪后半叶提供了其他类型的矿业城镇发展模式，如辽宁省阜新和抚顺等城市。这种模式是由政府而非私营公司负责规划采矿作业和矿区生活，采用整体性的设计方案，使矿区的经济和社会发展更加平衡。

4 加拿大道森市发现的原始胶片卷轴Primitive film reel found in Dawson City (Canada)

最后，矿业文化往往是内源性文化模式与国际影响相结合的产物。一些相对较小、偏远的矿业村庄和城镇由于作为港口和火车站，甚至成为通往世界其他地区的大门。例如一家法国公司在西班牙南部内陆的佩尼亚罗亚-普韦布洛纽沃村（Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo）开设了一个采矿点，这使得当地女性在20世纪初对于时尚的追求就已与巴黎保持同步，尽管当时西班牙南部大部分还是欠发达地区，远远落后于当时的社会[19]。另外，墨西哥伊达尔戈（Hidalgo）矿区矿工们的菜单中的康沃尔馅饼随英格兰康沃尔的矿工和技术一起来到大洋彼岸（图5）。还可以在体育运动中找到这方面的大量案例，足球和网球等运动主要是由矿业和其他工业行业移民（特别是不列颠移民）带入许多国家的。所有这些外来元素融入不同矿区的当地传统中，在矿山环境和全球化的推动下创造出一种融合文化。

5 墨西哥伊达尔戈矿区的康沃尔馅饼店展示出带有采矿、康沃尔镇和英国元素的装饰物Cornish pasties (pastes) shops in the Hidalgo Mining District (Mexico) showing references to mining, Cornwall and the United Kingdom

简而言之，矿业景观具有明确的地域界限，而矿业文化也具有可辨识的元素。除经济方面外，这些特征通常在采矿活动结束后依旧存在，作为集体认同的景观和文化，以及包含丰富多样价值的遗产保留下来[20]。

3 遗产价值

对所有的废弃矿业景观进行保护并不现实，特别是以文化或遗产公园的形式。那么选取何种方法和标准来选定最具代表性、独特性、重要性或有价值的案例就十分关键，即判定哪些遗址必须作为遗产进行保存。《埃尔比埃尔索宪章》在这一问题的解释上提供了如下标准：“历史的真实性；典型的类型；在类型或技术方面绝对或相对悠久；保存的状态；文化认同和类型特征的完整性；历史意义；财产及其设施与所在社区的关系；拥有采矿综合体的社区对其进行管理的可能性，保证最小限度的可持续性。”[2]

《埃尔比埃尔索宪章》还指出，矿业遗产保护的论述普遍基于2个主要观点：“矿业遗产作为化石以唤起消逝时间的价值”，以及矿业遗产“作为社区的再生者”的价值，因为“社区的管理和发展与矿山密不可分”，且在矿山停产后面临危机[2]。这些论述将重点放在废弃、退化和损失上，但往往忽视了矿业遗产作为一个包含广泛价值体系的信息载体的复杂性。

本研究试图从对当下产生效能的视角，讨论矿业遗产的价值。尽管本研究采用基于价值的方法，但这并不是遗产价值研究中唯一的理论和方法[21]。本研究并不枚举所有价值，而是评述一些能够界定矿业遗产特殊性的价值。

1）矿业景观具有重要的生态价值。这一观点看似有些自相矛盾，因为矿业往往带来严重的环境影响，与采矿作业相关的几起生态灾难仍令人记忆犹新。然而，矿业景观可以帮助我们了解如何与地球及其有限的资源发展出更加可持续的关系。此外，矿业景观一直是早期引发生态忧虑的地点。最早记录的一起“生态”抗议示威活动正是发生在一座采矿场。1888年，来自西班牙里奥廷托村（Riotinto）的矿工和周边地区的农民走上街头，要求停止露天焙烧硫化矿。这次抗议背后的动机是多样而复杂的，但理由之一是阻止其对环境和作物造成的严重伤害[16]。着眼当下，德国多特蒙德的一家煤矿和焦化厂——汉莎炼焦厂（Kokerei Hansa）现已被部分改造为露天观测站，用来研究大自然如何重新复苏工业废弃空间，以及不同形式的生物如何适应矿产开发遗留下的极端环境（图6）。

6 德国汉莎炼焦厂自然环境恢复Nature reclaiming its space in Kokerei Hansa (Germany)

2）与上一视角密切相关，矿业景观是反思传统的自然-文化二元对立论的理想场所。正如一些遗产学者和现代考古学家批评的那样[22-24]，这种划分是人为的，且歪曲现实的。矿区与其自然环境的不可分割性体现在2个方面：首先，矿区的存在离不开促成资源开发的地质特征；其次，采矿活动本身意味着景观和环境的深刻变革。因此，鲜有其他地方能比矿业景观更加清晰地表明自然和文化的相互塑造，二者不能分开去单独理解。从这层意义来说，矿业遗产有更具吸引力的理论价值，有助于重新定义遗产认定和管理中使用的标准。

3）矿业景观和相关冶金场所具有明显的工艺和技术价值。其中技术价值无疑是矿业景观作为工业遗产最具特色的部分。从某种意义上来讲，相较于其他类型的遗产，矿业遗产具有更为突出和明确的技术价值[25]。随着时间的推移，矿山见证了人类的创造力和技术的演进。正如在中国湖北铜绿山冶铜遗址所见，约在公元前11世纪—公元2世纪，矿工们使用了当时非常先进的技术用于地下矿井的挖掘和排水，用他们的技术和工具挑战了自然地质和地形的限制。此外，矿山中产生的先进技术有时也适用于其他情境。值得铭记的是，作为彻底改变工业和世界的机器——蒸汽发动机，最初是被开发用于矿井排水的。

4）矿业遗产具有经济价值[20]。在此之前需要承认的是，由于城镇中相当一部分人口在矿山工作或为矿山工作，而另一部分人则从事服务业以支撑矿工生活，所以矿山停产会给以此为依赖的矿业城镇带来经济危机。虽然如此，如果废弃矿区经过适当的战略转型，仍有可能继续焕发经济活力，转型途径包括但不限于旅游业。旅游业可以创造新的就业机会并带来新的收入来源，但需要明确的是，仅依靠旅游业还不能弥补矿业衰败后的经济缺口。正如德国鲁尔区所展现的，一个完整的长期发展计划有可能使地区实现“从煤炭到文化”的转型。该计划包括创建文化和遗产景点来吸引游客，但计划真正的核心在于将原有的重工业产业结构转变为能够创造新机会、新活动和新就业岗位的新型产业结构[26]。

5）矿业景观是了解矿业历史和文化的宝贵信息载体。就古代矿业景观而言，景观和遗物常常是唯一可用的信息来源。矿业景观具有信息载体的这一特性不仅存在于遥远的过去，矿业景观也能帮助人们更好地了解当代的遗址和人群。许多技术的进步从未被记录在文字或图像等资料中，或因其不足够重要，或因其并非是成功的尝试。在与矿山相关的社会方面，文献记载与实际情况的差距最为显著。某些情况下，像是只有发生事故或冲突时才会提及矿工。鉴于此，采矿场可作为重要信息载体，展现或传递从未被记载或记载存在偏差的物件和事件[27-28]。

6）与上一视角直接相关，矿业景观还具有知识转移的能力。在可持续发展方面，矿业景观带来了显而易见的经验。同样在认识自然方面，矿产开发如同外科手术，使人们看到地球表层的解剖结构，并重见以动植物化石等形式存在的灭绝生物，毋庸置疑具有教育作用。采矿史的内容也可以提供一些甚为实用的解决方案。如2010年，33名智利矿工被困于矿井下深约800 m的避难所[29]，他们设法生存了69天后获救。而将他们救回地面的是从19世纪就沿用的救援“胶囊”装置，尽管该装置随着21世纪的技术进步已有所改进（图7）。

7 德国博鸿的德国矿业博物馆展示的救援“胶囊”Rescuing capsules in the Deutsches Bergbau Museum(Bochum, Germany)

7）矿业废弃地具有非常独特的美学价值。它们以一种非常富有表现力的方式体现出破坏的力量[30-31]。矿山开采会暴露出地质层位，为景观增添了新的色彩、气味和纹理。此外，废弃矿业城镇和基础设施通常展现出岁月的痕迹，可能会令人着迷，也可能令人产生抵触情绪。废弃矿区的美吸引了艺术家和电影制片人。赛尔乔·莱昂内的《革命往事》（1971年）和史蒂文·斯皮尔伯格的《夺宝奇兵3》（1989年）将西班牙罗达尔基拉尔（Rodalquilar）金矿作为取景地，而萨姆·门德斯将日本煤矿废弃地端岛作为《天幕危机》（2012年）的取景地。

8）矿业景观具有不同维度的社会和人文价值。矿业景观是充满人类苦难与奋斗、发展与进步、创造力与独创性、辛勤劳作与牺牲、友谊和团队意识的空间。矿山使人们铭记人性黑暗的一面，包括劳动力剥削和经济殖民，但也包括积极的内容，如社会的进步、团结和友情。矿山向人们“讲述”了来自南非、法国、墨西哥、美国和中国的矿工在不得不面对类似的困境时，回应相似的感情。最终，矿山向人们展现出人类共通的人性（图8）。

8 矿业废弃地景观、文化与遗产价值之间的关系Mind map with the three different dimensions of abandoned mining sites discussed in this article, and the concepts related to them

4 结论

本研究试图从物质性这一视角研究矿业废弃地的遗产价值，矿业废弃地的物质性是随着时间推移，由自然和人类文化共同形成和塑造的。本研究对价值的解释并非详尽无遗，而是力图突出可以定义矿业遗产的概括性特征和对当下产生成效的一些特点。选择这样做的原因是，矿业不仅是技术和经济进步的主要驱动力之一，在一定程度上也导致了环境退化和人类苦难。即便蕴含着消极内涵，但矿业遗产保护能够帮助治愈一部分过去因矿业活动造成的生态和社会创伤。

本研究还发现矿业景观见证了国际化的足迹。虽然每段时间和每个地区的矿业景观具有其特殊性，但其共同点也足以阐述一种普遍性的矿业文化，并将具有一系列相似价值的矿业景观纳入全球化场景。

图片来源：

图1-1、2-1、3、5～8由作者拍摄；图1-2来自西班牙地质矿业研究所；图2-2由艾伦和佛洛拉·博特拍摄，来自维基媒体；图2-3由安德鲁·霍尔拍摄，来自维基媒体；图4来自《道森市：冰封时光》剧照。

（编辑/刘昱霏）

The Landscapes, Cultures and Heritage Values of Abandoned Mining Sites

(ESP) Juan Manuel CANO-SANCHIZ, WANG Dongdong＊

Currently, the properties related to mining in the UNESCO World Heritage List include sites for the extraction of metallic ores and fuel, quarries,salt mines, smelting and processing facilities, mining towns and landscapes. These properties date from the Stone Age (or much earlier if we use geological chronologies) to the 21st century, are in all the continents but Antarctica, and cover cultural, natural and mixed sites. Thus, it can be said that mining is universal and its cultural and natural values are universally accepted. There is global consensus on acknowledging mining not only as an industrial and economic activity, but also as an agent capable of creating natural and cultural landscapes that deserve preservation as heritage. The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage (TICCIH), which is the international organisation for the defence of this kind of patrimony, includes explicitly ‘mines and sites for processing and refining’ in its official definition of industrial heritage[1]. There is even a monographic charter on the topic:El Bierzo Charter for the Conservation of the Industrial Mineral Heritage,which was produced by the Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute in 2007 and approved by the Council of Historic Heritage in 2008. This charter reflects on the values of the mining landscapes from the time of industrialisation, and set a methodology for its preservation and activation[2]. Besides, the bibliography on this field is abundant[3-6].

In this essay, we do not aim to analyse the documents and texts available to write a state of the art, nor to offer a new contribution based on particular case studies. Instead, we reflect on the values of mining as heritage from an international and diachronic perspective. To do so, we follow this sequence: first, we define the mining landscapes as diachronic natural and cultural entities. Second, we describe the general cultural characteristics of these sites and their peoples paying attention to some of the features shared by the miners around the globe.Third, and finally, we outline what are the heritage values of such sites from the point of view of their usefulness in the present. Our goal is to list a series of common characteristics that let us delimitate both mining culture and heritage. Such goal implies overgeneralisation, since we cannot pay attention in this short text to the particularities of each site.Thus, our synthesis must be read as a simplification of a reality that is more complex and diverse.

1 Mining Landscapes

Mining exploitations have frequently been territories of economic growth, technological development, social advance (and struggle), and cultural exchanges. However, abandoned mining sites are often perceived as dark places hit by a history of pollution, ecological degradation, fatality,and the economic crisis that follows closure. It would be difficult to recognise heritage values in such places, but other readings are possible.Although we do not neglect any of the problems that have characterised the formation of these landscapes, here we produce a more positive perception that uses the negative consequences of mining on a constructive way. We see mining landscapes as extremely rich and diverse resources that can help us to find solutions to some of the problems (ecological, economic, social) that the world is facing in the 21st century.

First, mining landscapes are always natural and cultural at the same time. Mining cannot happen without very precise geological conditions. Different from other kinds of industries that can be set up in any location with good transport networks,mines are anchored to the territory. This special characteristic has always had a strong impact on the creation of new settlements, and consequently on human migrations. Everywhere, ore, fuel and other geological resources have witnessed the growth of new towns, and sometimes their fall too - Filón Sur mine (Riotinto, Spain), for example, swallowed at the beginning of the 20th century a miner’s village[7].These settlements are an inseparable part of the mining landscapes, which are not related to geology and production only, but to domestic and social lives too. There are examples of them all around the globe, such as Sewell (Chile), São Domingos(Portugal) or Kapunda (Australia). These were functional settlements developed by the mining companies in order to attract labour and keep it close to the mines. The companies frequently designed the camps with all the required facilities to provide their workers with all the necessary things for a living, but also to control them (see next heading).As a consequence of this common background, the mining towns often featured similar characteristics[8].

Second, because of being anchored to the territory, mining sites are dependent on transportation networks that, on many occasions,formed cultural routes in which, again, natural and cultural features are indissociable. In China,the Jingxi ancient road keeps the footprints of the beasts of burden that supplied Beijing with coal and other goods for centuries, while the road itself goes through a diachronic landscape that condenses the material remains of ancient, modern and contemporary mining exploitations. On a bigger scale, a cross-Atlantic route was established between Spain and the Americas in the Early Modern Period to bring to the American silver mines the Spanish mercury used in the amalgamation process. This route, despite being a highway to colonisation,played a fundamental role in the cultural exchanges between Europe and America, as well as in the early development of globalisation.

Third, mining landscapes present another particular characteristic: a considerable part of them is invisible[9]. This is not the case with opencast pits, but the situation is different with underground mining. In some examples, thousands of meters of shafts and galleries make up an unperceivable landscape that can only be sensed through the remains of the extractive industry on the surface, such as its spoil heaps (Fig. 1).This creates a substantial difference between the miners’ perception of the place and the visitor’s experience (in the cases in which the mines are reopened as touristic or heritage attractions). Even though some mining parks offer the possibility of going down and visiting some galleries, the works are normally refurbished and sanitised to receive visitors safely. The dust, the noise and the smells are generally gone, as well as the experience of working underground[10].

Fourth, and last, mining landscapes are frequently diachronic territories showing deep chronologies. This can be seen in the West Beijing Coal Mining Area (China). Other international examples include Rudna Glava (Serbia), which produced copper from the late 6th-5th to the 4th millennium BCE - and later again in Roman times[11]; or the polymetallic mines of Rammelsberg(Germany), which were in exploitation during the whole 2nd millennium CE[12]. This is a consequence of the continuous demand for metals and other geological materials in most human cultures, but also of the evolution of technology. Many deposits have been in exploitation for centuries because the development of mining and metallurgical technology favoured a gradual extraction of their resources. For instance, the apparition of the Newcomen engine in the 18th century allowed the mining of the tin and copper deposits of Cornwall(England) to continue hundreds of meters below the levels that were impossible to drain before this machine existed. Later, the international diffusion of the Cornish engine and other pumping machines opened the door to a mining boom in many different and distant parts of the world.The material footprints of this decisive chapter of global mining history can be traced on the Cornish engine houses still preserved in countries such as England, Australia, Spain or South Africa[13](Fig. 2).

2 Mining Culture

We understand culture as the set of ideas,behavioural patterns, customs and social rules that characterise a group and distinguish it from others[14]. In a broad sense, such set or system is highly modelled by the environment. This is more evident when such environment has strong and well-defined features, as it is the case with the mining landscape. Consequently, and in spite of the particularities of the numerous mining communities that have populated the globe through time, it can be said that mining culture makes the miners be a distinguishable group. Obviously, there are considerable differences between the Neolithic flint miners of Spiennes (Belgium) and the earlymodern silver miners of Potosí (Bolivia), as well as between the 20th-century alum miners of Fanshan (China) and today’s cobalt miners from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nevertheless,miners frequently share a series of common points that are closely linked to their work and living conditions. These similarities, which define a mining culture, are clearer and stronger in the time of industrialisation, so we focus on that period.

One of the most determining factors in the miners’ life and culture is their sense of belonging. Miners identify themselves with their jobs on a strong way that survives the end of the mining operations. There is a general pride in this profession, which has always demanded a tough effort from their workers and has also always been a major contributor to the development of nations and civilisations.

Moreover, a distinguishable characteristic of the miners is their special relationship with death.Fatal accidents have been common. Besides, miners have had to face a series of illnesses produced by their work environments, such as silicosis or lead poisoning. Therefore, life expectancy for miners has often been short. This presence of death made many miners live day by day, especially in the Western world. In some cases, this turned into strong religious beliefs. In others, into a dissolute life packed with vices - both choices coexisted in the Iberian Peninsula[15], among other places. The latter was intensified by the fact that, in numerous examples, early mining camps were mostly populated by young single men, who migrated to the mines attracted by their relatively high wages - at least, when compared to the peasants’salaries. The solution of many mining companies to this situation, which occasionally affected the development of the works, was to invest more on their paternalism programmes. The original barracks were progressively substituted by rows of houses to stimulate the creation of families and social stability[16-17]. At the same time, new services and facilities proliferated in the mining settlements,most of them promoted by the companies:company shops, schools, hospitals, film theatres,social clubs and sport facilities, among others. All of them aimed to give the miners a better and more stable life, but also to keep them far from trouble.

Another special characteristic of the miners is that, thanks to the mentioned paternalism programmes, they were educated workers. One of the main reasons for this was pragmatic: it was required that they were able to understand the handbooks of the new technologies that arrived at the mines. These favoured the proliferation of schools in the mining camps at a time in which important segments of the population were illiterate[18](Fig. 3). The access to education had other consequences, such as the spread of revolutionary and labour movements among the miners. Thanks to their reading skills, they had access to the new political ideologies that were going across the world in the 19th century, such as socialism. A sense of class grew among the miners, who in many countries were strong supporters of the left politics[8].

Besides, the camps enjoyed in general terms wide and diverse entertainment offers, especially when compared to the surrounding rural areas.For example, Dawson City, a remote town that flourished with the gold rush in Canada in the late 19th century, had a cinema theatre as soon as in the 1910s (Fig. 4). However, the case of Dawson City is different from the scene we are describing here. There, the cinema was an independent enterprise motivated by the fact that people had plenty of money during the golden years of gold exploitation. In other cases, this kind of facilities was provided by the companies as part of their paternalism programmes. The People’s Republic of China also offers, in a different chronological framework (second half of the 20th century), an alternative model to the one here described, as it can be seen in cities such as Fuxin or Fushun(Liaoning province). There, it was the government,instead of private companies, the responsible for planning both the mining operations and the life in the mines, which resulted in more holistic plans aimed to bring a more balanced economic and social development to the mining districts.

Finally, the mining culture has often been a hybrid product resulting from the combination of endogenous cultural patterns and international influences. The ports and railway stations of the relatively small and sometimes remote mining villages and towns became a gate to the rest of the world. In Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo, a mining site in the inner part of Southern Spain exploited by a French company, women were up to date with the fashion from Paris at the turn of the 20th century, when most of Southern Spain was still an underdeveloped and pre-modern territory[19].On the other hand, the miners from the Hidalgo Mining District in Mexico included in their diet Cornish pasties, which arrived at the other side of the Atlantic together with the miners and technologies from Cornwall, England (Fig. 5).But perhaps the biggest example of this can be found in the sports. Football and tennis, among other games, entered many countries by the hands of mining and other industrial migrant workers,especially Britons. All these elements (and people)from abroad joined the local traditions of the different mining sites, creating a cultural fusion in which the circumstances of the mine and globalisation were major ingredients.

In short, the mining landscape has welldefined territorial delimitations and the mining culture is a differentiating element. Their features frequently survive the end of the mining activities(exception made of the economic side), leaving behind landscapes and cultures that work as elements of collective identity, and heritages involving a rich variety of values[20].

3 Heritage Values

We are aware that it is not possible to preserve all the abandoned mining landscapes, especially as cultural or heritage parks. The challenge is, then,to determine the methods and criteria that let us choose the most representative, unique, significant or valuable examples; that is, those ones that must be preserved as heritage. In these regards,El Bierzo Charteroffers the following parameters: ‘The historical authenticity; The representative typology;The absolute and relative antiquity in terms of typology or technique; The state of conservation;The integrity of its cultural identity and typological features; The historic significance; The relation of the property and of the installations with the community in which it is a part; The possibilities of managing the mining complex by the community which owns it, guaranteeing some minimums of sustainability.’[2]

It is also pointed out inEl Bierzo Charterthat the discourses of mining heritage preservation have been traditionally based on two main ideas: ‘the value of Mining Heritage as a fossil evocating a vanished time’, and/or its value ‘as a regenerator of communities whose management and development were inextricably linked to the mines’ and are facing crisis after closure[2]. These discourses, which have put much of the focus on abandonment,deterioration and loss, have often failed to acknowledge the complexity of mining heritage as a document comprising a much wider series of values.

In this essay, we try to offer an alternative position that discusses the values of mining heritage through the lens of present usefulness.Although we follow the value-based approach, we are aware that this is not the only set of theories and methods in heritage-making[21]. In any case, we do not aim to be exhaustive. Rather than that, we comment some of the values that, in our opinion,define the specificities of mining heritage.

First, mining landscapes bear important ecological values. This may sound contradictory,since the mining sector often involves serious environmental impacts, and we have already witnessed several cases of ecological disasters related to mining operations. However, there is much we can learn from this about how to develop a more sustainable relationship with the planet and its limited resources. Moreover, the mining landscape has been an early scene for ecological concerns. One of the first documented ‘ecological’ demonstrations occurred in a mining site. In 1888, miners from Riotinto (Spain) and farmers from the surrounding areas went to the streets to demand the end of the open-air calcination of pyrites. The motives behind this protest were diverse and complex, but among them was to stop the severe consequences of such practice in the environment and the crops[16]. Back to present times, a former colliery and coking plant in Germany, Kokerie Hansa (Dortmund), has been partially transformed into an open-air observatory to study how nature reconquers spaces industrially degraded, and how different forms of life adapt themselves to the extreme environments of the mining exploitations (Fig. 6).

Second, and closely related to the first point,mining landscapes are ideal places to rethink the traditional divide between natural and cultural. As it has been criticised by several heritage scholars and symmetrical and contemporary archaeologists[22-24],such division is artificial and distorts reality.Mining sites are indissociable from their natural environments, in a double sense. First, because they cannot exist without the geological features that created the resources exploited. Second,because the mining activity itself implies profound transformations both in the landscape and in the environment. Thus, few places can make more evident that nature and culture shape each other,and consequently natural and cultural sites cannot be understood separately. In this sense, mining heritage has an interesting theoretical value, since it can help us to redefine the parameters we use in heritage-making and management.

Third, mining landscapes and the related metallurgical sites have evident technological values. These are probably the most characteristic ones in mining landscapes as industrial heritage,in the sense that these types of values are more prominent and defining in this heritage category than in others[25]. Through time, mines have witnessed human ingenuity and the evolution of technology, as it can be seen in Tonglushan (Hubei province, China). There, the miners used very advanced technologies for the time (c. 11th century BCE - 2nd century CE) in the excavation and drainage of the underground works, challenging the natural limits of geology and topography with their ideas and tools. Besides, the technological advances produced in the mines sometimes found applications in other sectors and contexts. It is worth remembering that the steam engine, the machine that revolutionised not just industry but the world, was first developed to drain mines.

Fourth, mining heritage has economic value[20]. The closure of mining operations brought economic crises to mining towns everywhere, since they were dependent on the extractive industry:a significant part of their population worked in or for the mines, while part of the other made a living offering services to the miners. Still, there can be an economic afterlife for the abandoned mining areas when they count on a proper strategy.This may include tourism but cannot be reduced to it. Tourism can generate new jobs and sources of income, but it is unlikely that tourism alone can fulfil the economic gaps left behind by the end of mining. Something else is needed, as it is demonstrated by the case of the Ruhr region in Germany. There, a full long-term plan was designed to make the region transit ‘from coal to culture’.The plan comprised the creation of cultural and heritage spots to attract tourists, but its real strength was the transformation of the old heavy industrial fabric into a new creative one capable of producing new opportunities, activities and jobs[26].

Fifth, mining landscapes are valuable documents to understand mining history and culture. In the case of ancient times, the landscapes and their things are frequently the only sources of information available. This characteristic of being a document is not exclusive of remote pasts.Mining landscapes also let us know more about contemporary sites and people. Many technological advancements were never recorded in the written or visual sources, in some cases because they were not considered important; in others, because they were unsuccessful. The gaps in the written records are bigger in relation to the social side of the mines. In some contexts, miners were only mentioned when accidents or confrontations happened, for example.In front of this situation, the mining sites can work as material documents to inform us about those things and events that were never recorded, or that were recorded biasedly[27-28].

Sixth, this being-a-document nature is directly linked to another value: the capacity to transfer knowledge. There is a clear lesson on sustainable development in the mining landscape. Also on the natural side, mining exploitations can work as surgeries that let us see the anatomy of the upper layers of planet Earth and reencounter extinct forms of life (such as animal and vegetal fossils),which has indubitable pedagogic utilities. There are even practical solutions that the history of mining can offer. In 2010, 33 miners from Chile got trapped in a shelter inside the mine about 800 m deep[29]. They managed to survive down there 69 days, until they were finally rescued thanks to an idea from the 19th century. The miners were brought back to the surface using a rescuing capsule that, despite being improved with the technologies of the 21st century, was already a common emergency device in the past (Fig. 7).

Seventh, abandoned mining sites feature very singular aesthetic values, since they embody the evocative power of ruination in a very expressive way[30-31]. Mine exploitations reveal geologic strata that add new colours, smells and textures to the landscapes. Besides, abandoned mining settlements and infrastructures materialise the passing of time and produced confronted reactions of fascination and rejection. The aesthetics of abandoned mines have attracted artists and filmmakers. Sergio Leone’sDuck,You Sucker!(1971) and Steven Spielberg’sIndiana Jones and the Last Crusade(1989) included the remains of Rodalquilar goldmine (Spain) as part of their sets, while Sam Mendes filmed a scene ofSkyfall(2012) in Hashima Island ( Japan).

Eighth, and finally, the mining landscape possesses social and human values in different dimensions. It is a space of human suffering and struggling, development and improvement,creativity and ingenuity, hard-work and sacrifice,camaraderie and sense of group. The mine reminds us of the dark side of humanity, which includes labour exploitation and economic colonisation. But the mine also talks about social progress, solidarity and brotherhood. The mine tells us about the miners in South Africa, France, Mexico, the USA or China who had to face similar difficulties and reacted to them with similar feelings too. The mine shows us, in the end, the very human nature that all of us share (Fig. 8).

4 Conclusion

We have tried to offer an alternative vision of the heritage values of the abandoned mining sites focusing on its materiality, which is formed and modelled through time by nature and human cultures. Our interpretation of such heritage values has not been exhaustive. Instead, we have tried to cast a fresh contribution giving prominence to the features that in general terms can define mining heritage, and to those characteristics that can be useful to the present. We bet on this approach because we understand that mining has been a major engine of technological and economic progress, but also of environmental degradation and human suffering. In front of this negative inheritance, we believe that mining heritage can help to heal some ecological and social wounds caused by mining operations in the past.

On the other hand, we have found on the mining landscape the footprints of internationalisation. Although we do not deny the specificities of each time and region, we think the common points are consistent enough to talk about a universal mining culture, and to describe the mining landscapes as scenes of globalisation that share a similar series of values worldwide.

Sources of Figures:

Fig. 1-1, 2-1, 3, 5～8 © authors; Fig. 1-2 © Lithotheque of the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain in Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo, Córdoba Cu-41, 1914 (detail); Fig. 2-2 ©Alan ＆Flora Botting (CC BY-SA 2.0 ＜https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0＞, via Wikimedia Commons); Fig. 2-3 ©Andrew Hall (CC BY-SA 3.0 ＜https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0＞, via Wikimedia Commons); Fig. 4 © Still from the trailer ofDawson City: Frozen Time(B. Morrison,2016; Hypnotic Pictures / Picture Palace Pictures).

(Editor / LIU Yufei)