Your First Week Inside the Mountain That Made Spain Rich

It's the year 1600, high in the Andes. Diego arrives at Cerro Rico with a candle, a sack, and a bag of coca leaves. Inside Potosí's silver mines, his first week reveals a system that keeps men returning even when their working week is over. Follow an Aymara worker through the mita labor draft, dangerous mine ladders, mercury refining, and the trade in pieces of eight. Discover how low wages, high food prices, and the work of entire families supported the silver economy, and why a drafted man's weeks of rest could send him straight back underground as a “free” worker. Diego is a fictional composite based on documented rules, wages, and working conditions. This episode distinguishes the historical record from popular legends, including the unsupported claim of eight million deaths. CHAPTERS 0:00 Diego and the Silver Mountain 1:03 The Mita Labor Draft 2:14 One Week On, Two Weeks Off 3:06 Diego's First Week Underground 3:47 Mercury and the Refining Mills 4:32 Pieces of Eight Around the World 5:09 Wages, Food Prices, and Family Survival 6:18 The “Free” Worker Trap 8:09 The Death-Toll Legend 8:47 Diego's Story and the Historical Record #Potosi #CerroRico #History