Topics of coins
100th Anniversary of the Discovery of the Complex of Prehistoric Striped Flint Mines “Krzemionki”
One hundred years ago, on 19 July 1922, a young
geologist Jan Samsonowicz was exploring the fields
of Krzemionki village in the former Opatów district
of the Kieleckie voivodship. Among the fields and
meadows, he came across a large concentration of
unusual, funnel-shaped cavities. They turned out to
be prehistoric mining shafts. Samsonowicz managed
to descend into several prehistoric pits, where he
found the original mining tools made of flint and
antlers. Having carried out the necessary inspections
and measurements, he realised that he was dealing
with a unique, unprecedented discovery. He found
extensive prehistoric striped flint mines which had
operated there during the Neolithic and Early Bronze
Age (approx. 3900-1600 BC).
The first archaeological excavations in Krzemionki
were started in 1925 by Józef Żurowski. The site
became the scene of research conducted by several
generations of Polish archaeologists. Owing to their
work, it was possible to gather impressive knowledge
about the life and work of prehistoric miners who
thousands of years ago used to extract striped flint
in this area and who had mainly used it to make
polished axes. In the third millennium BC they were
distributed within a range of 660 kilometres from the
mines.
In Krzemionki, four thousand mines of striped flint
had been dug, forming a mining field covering an
area of about 78 hectares. Both the underground
workings, carved into the limestone rock, and
the surface landscape transformed by prehistoric mining activities are well-preserved. Today the site remains
under the protection of the Historical and Archaeological
Museum in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski and is a part of
the nature reserve. Its collections and the underground
tourist route are open to visitors.
In 2019, Krzemionki together with the archaeological sites
(the Borownia and Korycizna mining fields, the Neolithic
settlement on the Gawroniec hill in Ćmielów) were
inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The reverse of the coin issued to commemorate the 100th
anniversary of the discovery of the mines features an
image of a prehistoric miner at work and an elliptical
insert made of striped flint.
The obverse of the coin shows the characteristic
symbol of the Great Mother. This is a charcoal
drawing made on the surface of a limestone pillar of
one of the mines in Krzemionki. It probably presents
a figure associated with the beliefs and mythology
of the Neolithic miners. It is one of several examples
of prehistoric rock art in contemporary Poland.
It is currently incorporated into the logotype of
the Archaeological Museum and the “Krzemionki”
Reserve (a branch of the Historical and Archaeological
Museum in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski).
Historical and Archaeological Museum
in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski