European History has a lot of connection with mining. Mining has been part of the early European history and will continues to do so. The search for materials and minerals started with the earliest European history and is a vital part of European Life.
The earliest mining traces from the stone age, and there are stone tools of obsidian and flint that indicate how men first worked to shape stone and rock, and mine materials for their usage. This was in early 5000 to 3000 B.C.
There are known examples of flint deposits that were mined in France during this period, and allowed men to create flint based tools, knives, axes and other pointed instruments.
During the change from the Stone Age to the Metal Age, early man discovered that if rock was heated then cooled quickly it would split. This allowed materials inside rocks could be easily accessed and early miners could make use of this.
As the evolving of metals began, there is evidence of metal copper smelting that took place in the Balkans in around 5000 B.C. Around 3000 B.C there were other locations in Europe, in Central Europe, Slovakia and Ireland, even in Britain where there was copper mining and copper smithing.
The Bronze Age came around 4000 B.C. and source of minerals such as tin, lead, and zinc were accessed using surface mining methods. In around 1400 to 1100 B.C. there began to be mines in Europe for different metals, Copper and Iron ore deep mines began to be developed and expanded.
Deep mines were expanded in Western and Central Europe around 800 B.C. Rome, Italy and other mining nations began to establish themselves around 500 B.C. especially Silver, Lead and gold mining. The Celtic traditions also began to show nomadic mining , involving prospectors that free mined and looked for materials and minerals, including staking a claim.
After a lot of war and upheaval, it was not until later around 1000 A.D. that mining began to re established in areas in Europe. Many invasions and cultures such as the Vikings and Magyar cultures participated in raiding that prevented earlier mining getting established.
As time passed, there began to be a increased need for minerals, and the demand for minerals, iron, coal and other substances. Mining began to evolve, including deep mining for minerals across Europe, in Germany, Spain, Eastern Ukraine, France, and other locations.
In the Industrial revolution from 1870 to 1914, coal and iron began to be the main substances heavily mined across Europe as was also occurring in the United States during this time period.