La production d'OR en G. Bretagne romaine

* I.A RICHMOND : Roman Britain. Penguin Books. 1955. Edition 1973

"After tin came gold. Only one gold mine of the Roman age is known in Britain, at Dolau Cothi, near Pumpsaint, between Llanio and Llandovery in north-east Caermarthenshire, among the Demetae. Here the workings are both open-cast and by long and deep adits, following the veins of gold-bearing pyrites. The adit galleries are very systematically cut, to serve for both drainage and haulage, and in the levels below them wheels for lifting water were installed to drain them, as in the Spanish mines. A panning cradle has also been found. At the shaft-head the ore was pounded, milled, and washed, a good head of water for the latter purpose being brought in a special aqueduct or open lade some eight miles long. A bath-house is also known, reminiscent of that mentioned in lex metalli Vipascensis, but in fact seems to belong to a fort. The scale of working certainly attests either Government activity or a concessionaire company of high standing and efficiency. The date is not defined, though some gold jewellery made on the spot is of late-second- or early-third-century style. A detailed study of this most interest-ing scene of specialized Roman development is overdue.".

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Une seule mine d'or connue à l'époque romaine : à Dolau Cothi, près de Pumpsaint, entre Llanio et Llandovery, dans le nord-est du Caermarthenshire, chez les Demetae.

Aujourd'hui sud-ouest du Pays de Galles.

JC Even