Discovering the Oltre il Colle Mineralogic Museum

First exploitment techniques

The exploitment techniques remained the same from the Iron Age to the XVI century, when gunpoweder was adopted. In order to destroy the softer materials the miners used the pick and the spade. For the harder rocks they used the axe. In order to demolish really hard rocks, miners used wedges or steel bits and they beat them with the sledge-hammer until the rock didn't crack. With a series of wedges one beside the other they could break into big blocks also the hardest rocks.