F11 — Salt Miner (Hallstatt/Dürrnberg): Nano Banana Pro Prompt Suite

Usage Notes

These prompts are designed for Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image). Each prompt is copy-paste ready as continuous prose. The negative-constraint tail follows each positive prompt as a separate block. Source annotations after each prompt are metadata for the user’s reference and should NOT be pasted into the model.

Phase selection: These prompts default to Iron Age / Ha C-D (c. 800-450 BC). For Ha C specifically, the pick tip should be described as “bronze” (warm golden-brown metal); for Ha D, as “iron” (dark grey metal). All other elements are phase-stable. The prompts below use “iron-tipped” as the default; substitute “bronze-tipped” for Ha C scenes.

Gender: The prompts default to a male adult worker. Substitute “woman” and adjust pronouns for female variants. For adolescent/child variants, reduce the figure’s height, specify smaller tool proportions, and note smaller shoe size.

Prompt Variant 1: Standing Miner with Full Equipment (Portrait/Equipment Display)

Positive Prompt

A single standing figure of an Iron Age salt miner from the Hallstatt culture, approximately 800-450 BC, depicted full-body in a neutral three-quarter pose against a plain dark background, lit by warm directional side-lighting that reveals texture and material detail. The man is of medium build with weathered, tanned skin and calloused hands, his posture slightly stooped from years of underground labour. On his head he wears a close-fitting conical cap made from several triangular pieces of sheepskin sewn together, fur side inward against the scalp, with the exterior showing pale stitched hide and a small tassel of leather strips at the pointed apex. His hair, medium-length and unkempt, is tucked beneath the cap. His tunic is knee-length, made of coarse wool in a faded brownish-yellow twill weave, visibly patched at the left shoulder and right hip with rectangular pieces of different-coloured fabric — one patch in a darker brown tabby weave, another in a muted blue-green twill — sewn on with crude visible whip stitches. Along the hem of one sleeve runs a narrow remnant of a tablet-woven decorative border band showing a faded geometric pattern in ochre and dark brown, a vestige of the garment’s former life as presentable clothing. The tunic is belted at the waist with a plain leather strap, from which hangs a small iron folding knife in a leather sheath. His legs below the knee are wrapped in strips of undyed wool cloth wound in overlapping spirals from ankle to calf. On his feet he wears simple shoes made from single pieces of untanned cowhide, wrapped around the foot and laced shut at the instep with a leather thong, the hide showing wear and scuffing around the arch. In his right hand he holds a salt mining pick at rest beside his leg: a naturally curved beechwood knee-haft approximately 60 cm long, with a clubbed grip end and a socketed iron tip about 20 cm long with a slightly curved cutting edge, the wood smooth and darkened from years of use, the iron tip showing a dull grey patina. Slung across his back is a large conical carrying sack made of cattle hide with the rough hair side facing outward, the coarse brown animal hair clearly visible, supported by a simple wooden carrying frame resting against his shoulders, with bast-fibre rope lashing the sack to the frame. Over his left shoulder is draped a loose coil of pale lime-bark bast rope. Tucked into his belt is a leather palm protector, a small flat piece of hide with a thumb hole, used to protect the hands during rope handling. The overall impression is of a functional, hard-working individual in well-worn practical clothing, not a warrior or chieftain. Photographically realistic rendering, sharp detail on textile weave texture and leather grain, natural skin tones, museum-quality archaeological reconstruction aesthetic.

Negative-Constraint Tail

No gold ornaments, no gold torc, no bronze torc, no neck ring, no arm rings, no fibulae, no brooches, no decorative belt plate, no Gürtelblech, no sword, no spear, no shield, no helmet, no Negau helmet, no conical bronze helmet, no chain mail, no armour, no cuirass, no greaves, no Mediterranean imports, no Greek pottery, no Attic pottery, no wine vessels, no Schnabelkanne, no situla vessel, no wagon, no horse gear, no crown, no diadem, no golden hat, no Goldhut, no wide-brimmed hat, no modern pickaxe shape, no T-shaped pickaxe handle, no metal bucket, no metal lantern, no candle, no oil lamp, no glass, no rubber boots, no modern shoes, no lace-up boots, no sandals, no woven basket, no Celtic knotwork, no La Tene spirals, no triskele, no tattoos, no face paint, no war paint, no horned helmet, no winged helmet, no Viking elements, no medieval elements, no fantasy elements, no magic effects, no glowing runes, no dragon motifs, no electric lighting, no hard hat, no modern mining equipment, no steel, no chrome, no plastic.

Source Annotations

Pick form and use: B1_salt_mining_tools.md entries 1-7; hallstatt_research/02_salt_mining.md, Mining Techniques section; Sketchfab 3D models by Daniel Brandner (NHM Wien).
Carry sack: B1_salt_mining_tools.md entries 10-11; Google Arts & Culture NHM Wien Top 100; hallstatt_research/02_salt_mining.md.
Mining cap: ResearchGate figure — “Headgear from the Iron Age salt mines of Hallstatt and Dürrnberg” (Grömer/Reschreiter context); NHM Wien Leather, Furs & Skins page; Brewminate article on animal skin artifacts. Conical form from multiple sewn triangular sheepskin pieces is attested from the Grünerwerk mine (Bronze Age construction persisting into Iron Age).
Shoe: A7_footwear.md entry 1.1; B1_salt_mining_tools.md entry 16; Sketchfab 3D model NHMW-PRAE-89.085.
Textile/tunic: A1_mine_textiles.md entries 1-5, 11; A2_costume_reconstruction.md entries 3-4; Grömer et al. 2013; NHM Wien Textilforschung pages. Recycled/patched character from NHM Wien functional classification of mine textiles; HallTex 97 recycled textile.
Tablet-woven border band: A1_mine_textiles.md entries 2, 8-10; NHM Wien object database — coloured patterned Borte.
Folding knife: Hallstatt folding knife, c. 600-500 BC, iron blade with antler handle; multiple published sources.
Leather hand protector: B1_salt_mining_tools.md entry 18; Sketchfab Brandner collection.
Bast rope: B1_salt_mining_tools.md entry 19; hallstatt_research/02_salt_mining.md.
Leg wrappings: Speculative — no direct mine evidence; inferred from 8°C mine temperature and general Hallstatt-period iconographic evidence from situla art. Flagged as ★ evidence.

Prompt Variant 2: Underground Mining Scene — Workers by Torch Light

Positive Prompt

An underground salt mining scene set inside the Iron Age galleries of the Hallstatt salt mine, approximately 800-450 BC. The gallery is roughly 2 metres high and 2.5 metres wide, its walls of grey-white rock salt scored with deep parallel grooves from pick-work, the ceiling supported by vertical spruce-wood pit-props with horizontal beams spanning between them, the timber darkened by age and salt encrustation. The floor is a trampled surface of compacted salt chips, clay, and debris. The only illumination comes from bundles of thin flat fir-wood lighting splints approximately 80 cm long, several of which are wedged into cracks in the salt walls, their tips burning with small bright yellow-orange flames that cast a warm, smoky, unsteady light, producing deep shifting shadows across the gallery and a faint haze of woodsmoke drifting along the ceiling. Light level is very low, perhaps equivalent to a few candles, with strong contrast between the lit areas near the splints and the deep darkness beyond. In the foreground, a man crouches at the salt face, swinging his beechwood-hafted iron-tipped mining pick in a lateral scythe-like motion, cutting a deep horizontal groove into the salt wall at waist height, fragments of white salt scattering from the impact, his leather-capped head ducked slightly to avoid the low ceiling, his patched wool tunic dark with salt dust and sweat, his leather palm protectors visible on both hands gripping the pick haft. Behind him and slightly to one side, a woman bends forward under the weight of a loaded cowhide carrying sack on her back, the rough hair-side-out cattle hide visible, the sack supported by a wooden carrying frame lashed with bast rope across her shoulders, her feet in simple untanned cowhide shoes braced against the sloping floor, her face showing effort and concentration, her own sheepskin cap pulled low. In the middle distance, a third figure — a youth or adolescent — holds a bundle of fresh unburned lighting splints under one arm and reaches up to replace a dying splint in a wall bracket, the new splint catching fire from the old one with a flare of brightness. The scene emphasises the physicality of the labour, the claustrophobic intimacy of the gallery, the warmth and smokiness of the wood-splint light, and the functional work clothing of the miners: patched wool tunics, leather caps, cowhide shoes, bast rope, cattle-hide sacks. No metal objects are visible except the iron pick tips and the small belt knives. The atmosphere is one of hard, skilled, cooperative labour in a dim underground world. Photographic realism, warm golden lighting from the burning splints contrasting with cool grey salt walls, visible texture on every surface — wood grain, wool weave, leather hair, salt crystal — shallow depth of field focusing on the foreground miner.

Negative-Constraint Tail

No electric lighting, no modern lighting, no fluorescent tubes, no LED, no headlamp, no candle, no oil lamp, no lantern, no kerosene, no gas lamp, no metal torch holder, no wrapped-cloth torch, no modern mine cart, no railway track, no metal rails, no bucket, no metal chain, no winch, no pulley, no dynamite, no explosives, no drill, no jackhammer, no modern pickaxe shape, no T-shaped pickaxe, no hard hat, no safety helmet, no hi-vis vest, no rubber boots, no modern clothing, no modern shoes, no jeans, no synthetic fabric, no gold ornaments, no jewellery, no torc, no arm rings, no fibulae, no bronze vessel, no situla, no sword, no shield, no spear, no helmet, no armour, no war paint, no Celtic knotwork, no La Tene decoration, no fantasy elements, no magic, no glowing effects, no runes, no crystal formations, no stalactites, no stalagmites, no water dripping from ceiling, no underground river, no bats, no rats, no modern safety signage, no concrete, no brick, no metal supports, no I-beam.

Source Annotations

Gallery dimensions: hallstatt_research/02_salt_mining.md — “1.5-2.5 m height, 1-3 m width”; experimental archaeology data.
Pick groove marks on salt wall: Reschreiter and Kowarik 2019; NHM Wien mining methods page — “deep parallel grooves”; experimental archaeology confirms scythe-like lateral motion.
Timber shoring: hallstatt_research/02_salt_mining.md — “pit-props (Stempel) of spruce and fir set vertically, horizontal beams (Kappen) spanning between them.”
Leuchtspäne: B1_salt_mining_tools.md entry 12; NHM Wien Salt Mine page; Reschreiter experimental archaeology. Fir wood (not pine), approximately 1 m long unburned, burn time 20-30 minutes, light level 1-3 lux. NHM Wien deliberately uses “Leuchtspäne” rather than “Kienspäne” because the wood was fir, not resinous pine.
Woman carrying sack: NHM Wien reconstruction illustration (Groebner/Reschreiter 2012) shows women transporting salt in sacks; Pany-Kucera et al. 2019 documents heavy-labour stress markers on female skeletons.
Youth replacing splints: Children/adolescents worked underground — children’s shoes and small tools in mine contexts; Pany-Kucera, Childhood in the Past 12:2, 2019; NHM Wien reconstruction shows children assisting with lighting.
All miner equipment: Same sources as Prompt Variant 1.

Prompt Variant 3: Miners Ascending Wooden Staircase in Salt Gallery

Positive Prompt

A vertical-format composition showing a narrow ascending wooden staircase inside a prehistoric salt mine gallery at Hallstatt, approximately 800-450 BC. The staircase is approximately 1.2 metres wide, constructed from thick spruce-wood planks and logs set into the salt rock walls at an angle of roughly 30 degrees, the wood surfaces worn smooth by decades of foot traffic, the staircase flanked on both sides by rough-cut salt walls that glitter faintly where light catches their crystalline surfaces. The gallery narrows upward and the ceiling is low, forcing the figures to stoop slightly. Warm flickering light from burning fir-wood lighting splints — thin flat staves about 80 cm long, held in a simple clay bracket fixed to the salt wall — illuminates the scene from the side, casting long upward shadows along the staircase and producing a warm golden-orange glow that fades into darkness above and below. The atmosphere is faintly hazy with woodsmoke. Ascending the staircase in single file are two salt miners. The leading figure, a man, carries a loaded cowhide carrying sack on his back, the rough hair-side-out cattle hide bulging with broken salt rock, supported by a wooden carrying frame lashed with pale bast rope, the weight visibly pressing him forward and downward as he plants each step carefully on the worn wooden planks, one hand gripping a timber handhold on the wall, his face tense with effort, sweat visible on his brow beneath his conical sheepskin mining cap. His patched wool tunic, originally a faded ochre-brown 2/2 twill, is dark with salt dust, and his simple untanned cowhide shoes grip the smooth wood of the steps, showing wear marks around the arches from this exact motion of climbing. Following behind him, a second figure — a woman — also carries a loaded sack but of lighter burden, her own sheepskin cap and patched tunic in a slightly different colour, a muted greyish-blue from faded woad-dyed wool. She steadies herself with one hand on the wall and holds a single burning lighting splint in the other hand, its small flame casting her shadow dramatically upward along the salt wall behind her. The wooden staircase shows construction details: the planks are fitted tightly, with some secured by wooden pegs, and the salt walls on either side show the scars of pick-work — parallel grooves where miners cut the gallery. A coil of bast rope hangs from a wooden peg driven into the salt wall beside the staircase. The emphasis is on the physical effort of ascending with heavy loads, the narrowness and age of the infrastructure, the beautiful warm-toned lighting from the wood splints against the pale salt walls, and the functional, worn, practical clothing of the workers. Photographic realism, strong chiaroscuro from the single-source splint lighting, visible texture on wood grain, wool weave, leather, and salt crystal faces, shallow depth of field with the leading figure sharpest.

Negative-Constraint Tail

No metal staircase, no metal railing, no metal handrail, no rope railing, no carved stone steps, no brick, no concrete, no mortar, no modern construction materials, no ladder (this is a staircase not a ladder), no elevator, no lift, no mine shaft cage, no mine cart, no railway track, no electric lighting, no modern lighting, no headlamp, no lantern, no candle, no oil lamp, no wrapped-cloth torch, no modern torch, no flashlight, no hard hat, no safety helmet, no hi-vis clothing, no modern shoes, no boots, no rubber soles, no gold ornaments, no jewellery, no torc, no arm rings, no fibulae, no sword, no shield, no helmet, no armour, no Celtic knotwork, no La Tene spirals, no fantasy elements, no magic glow, no crystal cave aesthetic, no stalactites, no stalagmites, no underground waterfall, no underground river, no glowing minerals, no bioluminescence, no mushrooms, no vegetation underground, no daylight visible, no sky visible, no surface visible.

Source Annotations

Staircase construction: B1_salt_mining_tools.md entries 13-15; hallstatt_research/02_salt_mining.md — “8 m long by 1.2 m wide,” “wooden steps set into the salt walls.” NHM Wien press release on Europe’s oldest wooden staircase (tree-ring dated 1108 BC); ResearchGate staircase photograph. Note: the 1108 BC staircase predates the Hallstatt C period and belongs to Phase I/Bronze Age mining, but Ha C and Ha D period staircases of identical construction type existed.
Staircase width: 1.2 m documented for the preserved Bronze Age staircase; comparable dimensions assumed for Iron Age stairs.
Shoe wear patterns from climbing: A7_footwear.md — “Wear patterns around the foot arches are consistent with climbing ladders and steps within the mine.”
Loading of carry sack: hallstatt_research/02_salt_mining.md — “25-30 kg of broken salt rock” per sack; experimental carrying experiments confirmed manageable by adult carriers.
Woad-dyed textile: A1_mine_textiles.md entries 11-14; Hofmann-de Keijzer et al. 2015; blue dye identified as woad (Isatis tinctoria) by HPLC analysis of mine textile fragments.
Salt wall crystalline glitter: Direct observation from the mine environment; salt (halite) crystal faces reflect light.
Lighting splint in clay bracket: B1_salt_mining_tools.md entry 12; hallstatt_research/02_salt_mining.md — “held in the hand or fixed in clay or salt brackets on the walls.”
Single-file ascent: Inferred from staircase width (1.2 m) and the bulk of loaded carrying sacks. Two workers side by side with loaded sacks would not fit.
All miner equipment: Same sources as Prompt Variants 1 and 2.