History
There is no reliable proof indicating a protohistoric
exploitation of the gold mine, however the locally produced objects made of
gold, coming from the lake dwellings near Lake Viverone, suggest that in the
Middle Bronze Age there was already a rather lively activity of extraction.
Besides, the presence of several erratic blocks with engravings mostly relative
to the Iron age (1st millennium B.C.), witnesses an active frequentation of the
area that, starting from 5th/6th century B.C., is supposed to have been
controlled by Salassi (Celtic) together with Biella, part of the province of
Turin and the Aosta Valley. Strabo (64 B.C. -21 A.D.) refers that in 143/140
B.C., taking as an excuse an argument between the Salassi that exploited the
gold mine and the people settled in the plains, where the former were accused
of depriving the cultivated fields of the water coming from River Dora which was
used for washing sands, the roman consul Appio Claudio, intervened militarily.
Despite a disastrous initial defeat, he took possession of the contested land.
The identification with Bessa is not certain but quite possible as it probably
was a big mine, for the amount of water used seemed to create problems of
provisioning. We have to think that the historian, quoting River Dora, did not
refer to the present river descending from Aosta Valley, but used it as a
general indication of "stream" (also common in Savoie, France and
Valais, Suisse ) as there are no other gold mines apart from Bessa that could
justify such a quarrel over water. The year 140 is then the date after which
the roman publicans could contract the aurifodinae. . Strabone's text also
confirms that the metal was already extracted from Salassi, obviously not
simply on a craft scale. From Plino (23-79 A.D.) we have the proof of the size
of the yard as, regarding Bessa, he quotes a lex censoria that, probably for
public order problems, forbade the use of more than 5000 workers. This means
that there were periods where the number was even higher. Even if the exact
duration of the exploitation is not known, we know that when Strabo was writing
the mines had already been abandoned (or more likely worked out) and gold in
Rome came mainly from Iberia.
In the beginning the gold mine depended from Vercelli
as for the administrative part but when Eporedia (Ivrea) was founded in 100
B.C., it probably passed to this town. This is proved indirectly by a few tombstones
and inscriptions of Eporedia citizens, found on the edge of Bessa (Riviera
hamlet in Zubiena) and of the site of old Victimulae (today's San Secondo of
Salussola). Riviera tombstone is relative to a priest of Augustus, the
inscription of San Secondo recalls the donation of a ponderarium (structure
where weights and measures were kept) by an official. This donation proves that
during the Augustus Age the extractive activity was still effective, probably
thanks to individuals and limited to sands dumped after the washing that,
because of the imperfect treatment, still contained modest quantity of the
metal. The identification of Victimulae quoted by the roman historians with the
business area of the roman mine has not been confirmed yet, as the dating of
the evidences and of the investigated structures do not go beyond the Imperial
Age and no necropolis has ever been found.
The prospecting for gold continued also in the
following centuries and continues still today as a hobby in the sands eroded by
River Elvo from the old dumps.
Rome: 143 B.C.