Mining

There is evidence of surface mining dating back to prehistoric times. The first mining was probably for flint, which was used for knives, scrapers and arrowheads. The oldest known underground mine was in Swaziland over 40,000 years ago, to mine for ochre to use as a body pigment in ceremonies. During the Neolithic Age shafts were dug to extract flint from deeper in the earth. Gold, copper and silver were other minerals mined early in history.