Mineral folklore in oltu

Oltu is a district of Erzurum. There are important mineral deposits in the district. A large part of the mineral reserve of Erzurum is met from Oltu. Mine extracted from Oltu are salt, lime, coal and jet. There are also inactive mine along with active mine in the district. We made compilations about mines and beliefs in Oltu. We used the interview method in our compilations on the site. As a result of our sources, we observed there are also beliefs and practices in various field in Oltu as well as the economic value of mines for the workers and the other members of the society. We compared our compilations from Oltu with the information obtained from the written sources of places where mines and mineral products are very important such as Zonguldak. As a result of our comparisons, we determined that there are different beliefs and practices about different types of mines in different regions. This thesis aims to define and classify the mineral folklore based on the beliefs and practices related to mines.