12,000-Year-Old Mine Found in Northern Chile

University of Chile archaeologists have discovered an iron oxide mine from 12,000 years ago in northern Chile, making it the oldest mine yet discovered in all the Americas, the El Mercurio daily said on Sunday.

The iron oxide mined by the Huentelauquen Indians was used as a pigment in dying cloth and in religious rituals, revealing an unexpected sophistication in what was previously considered a primitive group of people, said chief researcher Diego Salazar.

'The fact they developed a mine shows the importance religion had in their lives, because iron oxide was not used as food, was not bought or sold,' he told the daily.

The ancient mine was discovered near the town of Taltal, in the Antofagasta region, 1,100km north of Santiago, in October 2008, but its antiquity was not determined until tests were conducted this year in US and Polish laboratories.

Named 'San Ramon 15,' the mine was exploited heavily between around 10,000 BC and 2,000 BC. It yielded over the millennia a total of 1,814 tonnes of pigment extracted from 700 cubic metres of rock.

Researchers also found a treasure trove of stone and conch mining tools in the area. 'We've found more than 1,000 hammers... but considering the amount of material we have yet to sift through, the real number could rise to several thousands,' said archaeologist Hernan Salinas.

via 12,000-Year-Old Mine Found in Northern Chile | Discovery On line.