Innovation technique et rationalisation structurelle dans les centres miniers des cités toscanes et de la couronne d’Aragon

Among the most characteristic innovations in the genesis of the modern mining enterprise were small-scale assay techniques. There are archaeological remains attesting to the use of such operations in German mining areas from the late 12th century, but this practice was only followed systematically i...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Joseph Gauthier
Format: Article
Language:Spanish
Published: Casa de Velázquez 2018-04-01
Series:Mélanges de la Casa de Velázquez
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/mcv/8223
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Among the most characteristic innovations in the genesis of the modern mining enterprise were small-scale assay techniques. There are archaeological remains attesting to the use of such operations in German mining areas from the late 12th century, but this practice was only followed systematically in the major Sardinian and Tuscan mining areas in the early 14th century, where it aided the introduction of a rational organisation in the operational process through a division of labour based on assays. Fast, precise and reproducible, these analyses, performed by sworn-in experts, guaranteed trust among the various participants in the exploitation. There are regulations making it possible to track the importation of this standardised organisation to Catalonia by the Aragonese kingdom following the conquest of Sardinia. Nonetheless, the failure of attempts to apply this mining procedure to small deposits shows that there was a minimum scale beneath which this new mining economic system was not viable.
ISSN:0076-230X
2173-1306