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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Black History Month
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What s better than a smile?
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Infant Sumatran orangutan, Indonesia
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The glowing waters of the Matsu Islands
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Who doesn’t love a ‘Puppy’?
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Water colors
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Life goes on at the Beatles Ashram
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Museum Night in Berlin
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Keep calm and drive on (slowly)
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Mada in Saleh, Saudi Arabia
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Take the Stairs Day
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National Park Week: Olympic National Park, Washington
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A dreamy start to the Year of the Pig
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World Oceans Day
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Here we honor the women who ve served
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National Public Lands Day
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Celebrating whales—and a whale of a tale
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Diving into the underwater nirvana
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Ravens
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Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada
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Gazing upon Portraits of Change
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Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia
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Guilin and Lijiang River National Park, China
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Lower Antelope Canyon, Arizona
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National Napping Day
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International Tiger Day
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Oktoberfest begins
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Gifford Pinchot National Forest
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A stunning sight in Mexico s wilderness
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World Penguin Day