The red clay formations called Las Médulas owe their angular character not to the shaping hands of nature but to those of gold miners—and not grizzled "49ers in grubby flannel and overalls, but 1st-century excavators clad in tattered tunics. When gold seams were discovered here in what"s now northern Spain, the Romans who controlled the region created a clever system of tunnels and canals under the hills, through which they channeled water from nearby streams to build pressure that cracked away huge chunks of clay.
There was gold in them there hills…
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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The ‘Living Forest’ in Biscay, Spain
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Buddha in the roots of a tree, Ayutthaya, Thailand
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Après-ski in the Dolomites
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Take me to the river
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Gemsbok in Namibian sand dunes
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Rideau Canal Skateway in Ottawa, Canada
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World Bee Day
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It s Mountain Day in Japan
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Let the games begin
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Fashion models of the avian world
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Hooray, hooray, it s Unicorn Day!
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Camels in the desert, United Arab Emirates
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Happy Father s Day
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A day for the oceans
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What’s blooming in New Zealand?
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A Festivus for the rest of us
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North Cascades National Park at 50
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The Hermitage of Santa Justa
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Kagami-ike, Nagano, Japan
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East River crossing
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Tigh Mor Trossachs on Loch Achray, Scotland
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Gray seal pup, Norfolk, England
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Penn Station
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Casting a vote for women s history
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A red fox on the Swiss side of the Jura Mountain range
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Longtailed widowbird at Rietvlei Nature Reserve, South Africa
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The borrowed days are here
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Floating temples in the Land of Smiles
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Pining for spring
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Keep watching the skies