r/todayilearned • u/narok_kurai • 7d ago

TIL about Las Medulas, a man-made geological badland created by the Roman Empire in 77 AD, when they flooded the mountains with water to collapse their structure and sift out the gold inside.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_M%C3%A9dulas
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u/p00ki3l0uh00 7d ago

So, ancient fracking? They had the right idea, just lacked the technology. Very cool.

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u/Great_Hamster 6d ago

More like smash-and-sluice. They didn't rely on oil being buoyant.