An information plaque „Strecke gaidarka”

An information plaque made of wood. On the background, the inscription is placed: “Strecke Gaidarka”. The face is covered with numerous signatures of miners in pencil. On the plaque there are names and dates from 1878-1969. These are probably the names of the miners who signed their names on the plaque in pencil or crayon. This is not an unusual situation - in the mine the names of miners or visitors to the mine are often inscribed on the beams of the roof-supporting box-cribs in the chambers, on the wooden elements of the timbering of the galleries. The oldest documented graffiti is the name “Johannes Baptista Bottagiso” and the date “1590” written on a box-crib in the Piaski Stare chamber on level i of the Wieliczka Mine. Why did people sign in the mine workings? Was it to immortalise one’s name, to make one’s name a part of the mine history, to mark one’s place of work?