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FLINT MINING OF CENTRAL HUROPE 37

tion as a result of connccting the workings of three ad-jacent shafts (shafts Nos 17, 19 and 20 from the cutting I). In the upper part, the section of shaft No 17 had an oval outline measuring 1.4x 1.8 m. It was 3.4 m deep. In the south-west part of the shaft, at a depth of 1.6 m, a relatively narrow stall was started. It was 4 m Iong and approx. 1 m high. The stall was situated 65 cm above the shaft bottom (Fig. 59). At the back, the stall widencd and divided into two separate workings. Its width therc amounted to 2.2 m. The north stall ended in a smali oval hole, 50 cm in diameter which connectcd shaft No 17 with shaft No 133. Additionally, in shaft No 17 a niche and a working occurred (Gurina 1976, 160). In the case wherc workings from three shafts at the cutting I (Nos 17, 19 and 20) were connected together a stall measuring 4.2x4 m was fornicd (which also takes into account the shaft hole surface). The diameters of three shafts varied from 1 m to 1.4 m (Gurina 1976, 140).

Underground shafts with galleries and stalls rcąuircd the most complex organization, gcological knowlcdge, and the participation of scveral people. The presence of narrow and wide shafts indicatcs csscntial differences in the methods employed, which we have discussed for open shafts and shafts with niches.

Fig. 57. Rijckholt-St.Geertruid. View of shaft No 18

Aftcr P.J.FcIdcr, P.C.M.Rademakers

shafts were deliberately connected to form passagcs, which wcre not filled with waste rock (Fig. 56). In somc places pillars with sąuare or triangular section were left. Shafts examined by S. Krukowski and T. Żurowski were about 7 m away from cach other.

At Rijckholt- St.Geertruid the shaft hole diameters were only about 1 m (Fig. 57). Their depth varied from 4 to 16 m, but the most common were shafts with a depth from 8 to 12 m (P. J. Felder, Rademakers 1973; Bosch 1975; W. M. Felder et alii 1979, 51-64). The system of widening galleries or making them into stalls was uscd to exploit the deposit. The area of underground ex-ploitation from one shaft covered a rangę from 15 m² to 50 m², and was clearly inereasing with the depth of the shaft. In 4 m deep shafts the most remote workings were 2 m from the pit (Fig. 58). With a depth of 6 m the maximum distance of deposits exploitation was in-creased to 5 m. In shafts 10 m deep the most remote workings were from the hole. The exploited flint layer was always in the rniddle of the workings.

Galleries occurred in sonie shafts of the Vienna-Mauer minę (Fig. 33) and stalls are found sporadically at Krasnoyc Selo. For that last minę N. N. Gurina des-cribes the shaft with a single stall and a nichc (shaft No 17 from the cutting IV) and the case of stall forma-

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Fig. 58. Rijckholt —St.Geertruid. Schematic view of methods of exploitation at difierent depths

Aftcr W.M.Fcldcr ct alii