>a few little tokens left lying around to ensure everything kept going alright

I've a vague memory that in Africa, there are red ochre mines that were very carefully backfilled, requiring loads of time and effort that can only be explained in terms of the belief system of the miners. I kow Africa ain't Llandudno, and red ochre ain't copper ore, but there's a sort of conection there, albeit very tenuously. Something like 'special stuff from out of the ground has to be taken respectfully'.