Cova 338 Suggests Prehistoric Mining

About 5,500 years ago, prehistoric people repeatedly climbed to Cova 338, a cave 2,235 meters above sea level in the eastern Pyrenees in Europe, apparently to collect and fire-process copper-bearing rock. Archaeologists found 23 hearths filled with crushed, deliberately burned fragments resembling malachite, suggesting visitors returned on planned expeditions for about two thousand years. If further testing confirms the mineral and its purpose, the cave could represent an unusually early high-altitude copper-mining camp in Europe.

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