Today, we traveled to the town of Kutna Hora, about 80 minutes outside of Prague. Jana told us that Kutna Hora was once a rich mining town where a lot of silver was mined and sold. At the beginning of the tour, we learned about the different tools miners used at the mines. These included simple chisels and hammers, but also a large, circular mechanism made of wood. This machine was powered by multiple horses connected to the outside of the machine, thus rotating it around its central axis as the horses walked. The tour guide told us that this machine was built to haul up the silver that the miners found up and out of the mine.
Later, we were able to actually go down into one of these mines. They were very narrow and damp. I could not imagine what it would be like to have to work down there for eight hours with just a small candle lighting my way. We also learned that the miners of Kutna Hora were just the start of a larger operation. Once the miners extracted silver ore from the mines, it was then purified on the surface, shaped, and sold at the local market. This entire operation was incredibly organized and resembled a modern day engineering plant with a hierarchy of bosses and workers. I was incredibly impressed by everything we learned on this tour, and it made me realize that medieval Europe was really advanced and resourceful for its time.
Swanson School of Engineering 