... Gold has always been highly sought after but the ancient Egyptian peoples had a particular interest in this valuable metal. To them it was a symbol of eternity, it did not tarnish easily and was the colour of the sun (Davies and Friedman 1998). There were plentiful supplies of Gold in Egypt, namely Nubia and the deserts east of the Nile valley and there is evidence of both surface and underground mining. Mining was also an important factor for Roman civilisations, especially that of coal for underfloor heating systems, "hypocausts", in bath houses and lead for items such as pipes and ingots (Wilkinson 2000). Limestone was quarried for building use and indeed, much of Hadrian's wall that stretches from Newcastle to Carlisle in the north of England, consists of this material. It is estimated that this wall originally contained 3.7 million tonnes of stone and this would clearly have had ...

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