Who invented mines

The most abundant was copper. But, gold, silver, and mercury were also found and prized. The application of fire to mined materials became a technological breakthrough and proved to be one of the critical advancements of civilization. In fact, excavated elements transformed themselves by the application of heat. As a result, pottery hardened to last more than a season. Especially relevant, metals could be melted and formed into objects.

The advancement of pottery technology in conjunction with experimentation and observation of the results of firing on different materials led to the development of smelting the extraction of metals from ore. The Egyptians and Sumerians smelted gold and silver from ore 6, years ago. As a result, these metals began to have a value that was transferable between people and between cultures. Approximately 5, years ago in this history of mining, came the discovery of tin. Tin, mixed with copper, made bronze, the first alloy harder than its constituent metals.

Metalworking advanced over the next few thousand years, as did the use of other mined materials:. With the development of the Mediterranean civilization, mining became one of the most critical industries in the world. Athens grew wealthy, due to the extractions from silver mines Laurion Mines.

Athens then fell when Sparta wrested away control of the silver mines. People mined through systems of shafts and galleries supported by stone columns as timber became scarce in the area. Over time it also became obvious that antipersonnel mines often harmed the very people they were there to protect: the soldiers.

In addition to mounting soldier casualties, there was growing opposition to mine use within military ranks. Some soldiers came to understand that the humanitarian costs far outweigh the limited and questionable military utility of the weapon.

Over 50 countries have produced antipersonnel mines at some time, both for their own stocks and to supply others. Forty-one states have ceased production of antipersonnel mines, including four that are not party to the Mine Ban Treaty: Egypt, Israel, Nepal, and the US.

At the same time some non-state armed groups or rebel groups in various countries produce antipersonnel mines, mostly of the improvised variety.

For the latest updates see Landmine Monitor. Today, the weapon is still being used in a handful of conflicts. Landmines date back to 13 th century when Song Dynasty of Chinese was fighting against the Mongols to save a city in the Southern China. The records of 14 th century describe the use of cannonball shells of cast iron which were filled with gunpowder.

The literature of mid 14 th century when Yuan Dynasty was falling and Ming Dynasty was emerging records of cast iron made mines, that were spherical in shape and they had magic gunpowder, blinding and burning gunpowder or poison gunpowder filled in it as per the requirement. The clearing technique is less dramatic than the movies might tell you.

It is often said that the only thing that guarantees an area has been completely cleared is that the deminer walks out the same way he or she came in. Large numbers of landmines are often used to defend a military position instead of soldiers; unlike a sentry, a landmine never needs to sleep.

And only a few mines need to be scattered over a field or in a forest to turn productive land into an overgrown wasteland.

Even the threat of a mine is a powerful incentive to stay away. The development of mine-clearing techniques has been constantly changing — because landmines themselves have been constantly updated.

Even the threat of a mine can make an area a no-go zone Credit: iStock. The exact first use of something that we would recognise as a landmine is lost in the mists of time.

What we do know is that a landmine may have first been used as early as the Third Century AD in China. In the generals of Imperial China were certainly using mines against the Mongol hordes invading their country. It took another three hundred years for the first landmine to be used in Europe by a Spanish soldier called Pedro Navarro. The first modern land mine was created in the American Civil War.

Inspired by simple explosive booby traps, General Gabriel J Rains developed the landmine to defend the positions of the outnumbered Confederate Army at the Battle of Yorktown in It was very quickly copied by other armies.

In the years afterward anti-personnel landmines became more and more dangerous. It can be controlled remotely and explodes in one direction, spraying shrapnel rather like a shotgun.

When the first tanks appeared on the Western Front in World War One, the first anti-tank landmines were improvised affairs. In the first modern anti-tank land mine was developed in Germany. This was the flying-saucer shaped Tellermine 29, which influenced generations of designs.