[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989) › v1.c21.s9.t1.3 # An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c21.s9.t1.3 An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c21.s9.t1.3 - **Language:** English ### [v1.c21.s9.t1.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c21.s9.t1.3) In the beginning gold nuggets were collected from the surface and gold was mined by ‘open cast’ method. A later method used for mining appears to have been ‘fire-setting’, where rock faces were heated and then cracked by throwing water on them. This helped in sinking deep shafts in quartz veins. Stray finds among old workings, two ¹⁴C samples from Hutti and field investigations indicate that shafts through the quartz veins had reached a considerable depth by the beginning of the Christian era. Over 240 m deep anciently worked mines have been recorded at frequent intervals along several km of reefs of the Kolar and Hutti gold mines. - [Previous: v1.c21.s9.t1.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c21.s9.t1.2) - [Next: v1.c21.s9.t1.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c21.s9.t1.4) - [Up: v1.c21.s9.t1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c21.s9.t1) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c21.s9.t1.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c21.s9.t1.3) · Pramāṇa