Ancient gold mining in Rosia Montana (Apuseni Mts, Romania)

Abstract

Rosia Montana, or Alburnus Maior as was called by the Romans, is a famous ancient gold mining area located in the Apuseni Mts, at the western boundary of Transylvania, Romania. Its richness in gold was known and valued by ancient exploitations of river sediments or shallow veins long before the Roman conquest of Dacia (Motiu, 2004). In fact, the gold of Dacia was the very reason for the two wars between the Romans and the Dacians; in 106 AD. Dacia became a Roman province located at the northern limit of the empire. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.