Dolaucothi Gold Mines
The Dolaucothi Gold Mines (grid reference SN662403), also known as the Ogofau Gold Mine, are Roman surface and underground mines located in the valley of the River Cothi, near Pumsaint, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The gold mines are located within the Dolaucothi Estate which is now owned by the National Trust.
They are the only mines for Welsh gold outside those of the Dolgellau gold-belt, and are a Scheduled Ancient Monument. They are also the only known Roman gold mines in Britain, although it does not exclude the likelihood that they exploited other known sources in Devon, North Wales, Scotland and elsewhere. The site is important for showing advanced Roman technology.
Roman mining methods
Archaeology suggests that gold extraction on this site may have started sometime in the Bronze Age, possibly by washing of the gold-bearing gravels of the river Cothi, the most elementary type of gold prospecting. Sextus Julius Frontinus was sent into Roman Britain in 74 AD to succeed Quintus Petillius Cerialis as governor of that island. He subdued the Silures, Demetae and other hostile tribes of Roman Wales, establishing a new base at Caerleon for Legio II Augusta and a network of smaller Roman forts fifteen to twenty kilometres apart for his Roman auxiliary units. During his tenure, he probably established the fort at Pumsaint in west Wales, largely to exploit the gold deposits at Dolaucothi. Frontinus later restored the Aqueducts of Rome and wrote the definitive treatise on 1st century Roman aqueducts, the two volume De aquaeductu.
Podcasts:
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by Santana
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by Lauryn Hill
Do You Like The Way
by: SantanaWatch the master plan, the pastures span
Through the streets, move the sheep
Flipped the beat, like the shepherd
It's a new day, my crew stay forever striving
Give thanks cause we alive, and been through the gutter
Now we see the horizon
It's clear to me now
Used to be confused, took a lot of years to see how
Now, we moving planets
Take the average mind and expand it
You take for granted like we're always gonna be disadvantaged
But soon come, it soon come, ya soon done
Ya start run, you stumble, we catch one
In the rhythm, Santana lick the guits with precision
Not accidental, intentional conscious decision
To Zion, we're marching through with African Mayans
Conquering Babylon with the heart of a lion
And the walls of Jericho come a-tumbling down
Tell me, how long has it been
Is everything, everything alright my friend
You see, time is passing, people asking how come none of this ain't lasting
Money will make people deal like they don't even have to feel
But no, it ain't real, it ain't real
Oh, do you like the way that it's going down
Do you like the way that it's going down
Ooh, do you like the way
How long, how long will we wait, to sit down and communicate
See, everything is relative, if you want to get then give
Can't we all just build and live,can't we, can't we?
Do you like the way that it's going down
Do you like the way that it's going down
Do you like the way that it's going down