The Sink Hole at Bandana: A Blue Ridge mica mine reveals Its prehistoric past

摘要

Aboriginal mining activity in the Blue Ridge Mountains during the Woodland period is a neglected aspect of North Carolina prehistory. Abundant evidence of such activity was still visible in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, before modern mining obliterated it. From published reports of this evidence, it appears that Woodland mining activity in the Blue Ridge was devoted largely, if not exclusively, to the extraction of a single mineral, mica, and its transport to centers of Adena and Hopewell culture in the Ohio Valley. Evidence for future study consists of tools and artifacts in museum collections. A cursory inspection of one such collection shows that much material is available, only awaiting renewed interest in the subject. A review of the literature and visits to a prehistoric mining site, the Sink Hole mica mine in Bandana, North Carolina, suggest future lines of inquiry, chief among these being the identity of the prehistoric miners.