ABSTRACT
This chapter endeavours to introduce the 11 themes that are subsequently elaborated at greater length by experts in those fields of mining history. Each theme is here connected to a particular, iconic date. In other words, each of the 11 dates symbolizes an event in mining history that stands for a particular theme of great significance for mining and its history. The themes discussed here include mining archaeology, technological progress in mining, science in mining, migration, working-class culture, gender, mining accidents, the impact of the state on mining, the visual history of mining, the ecological consequences of mining and the impact of mining heritage.
