The aghia kyriaki, melos survey: Prospecting for the elusive earths in the roman period in the aegean

The Annual of the British School at Athens

Volumn 94, Issue , 1999, Pages 377-413

  Photos Jones, E ^a   Hall, A J ^a   Atkinson, J A ^a   Tompsett, G ^a   Cottier, A ^a   Sanders, G D R ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW   (United Kingdom)

^b American School of Classical Studies   (United Kingdom)

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EID: 85009580754     PISSN: 00682454     EISSN: 20452403     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0068245400000654     Document Type: Article

References (58)

1. R. H. S. Robertson, Fuller's Earth: A History of Calcium Montmorillonite (London, 1986). At present it is Melos rather than Kimolos which is one of the world's major producers of this clay, known as environmental clay because of its application as a liner to landfill sites, in filters for water-supply, and as a drilling mud in hydrocarbon exploration and production. For a full review of Melos’ currently exploitable resources see M. G. Stamatakis, U. Lutat, M. Regueiro, and J. P. Calvo, ‘Milos, the mineral island’. Industrial Minerals (February 1996), 57-61.
2. E. R. Caley and J. F. C. Richards, Theophrastus on Stones: Commentary (Ohio State University, Graduate School Monograph 1: Columbus, 1956), 177-8; Robertson (n. 2), 37-40.
3. G. Shipley, A History of Samos 800-188 BC (Oxford, 1987) appendix 2; Theophrastus, De lapidibus 62-4; Dioscorides, De materia medica v. 158. Lemnian and Samian earths are currently the subject of a separate archaeological/geological investigation by two of the present authors in association with the Institute of Geological and Mining Exploration (IGME), Athens. It should be noted that archaeology does not attest the existence of ‘Samian ware’ or ‘Samian Sigillata’, although Samian Earth may have been stamped for sale as a remedy for ailments during the Ottoman period.
4. Pliny, Natural History xxxv. 191.
5. A History of Samos 800-188 BC. 192; Dioscurides, De materia medica v. 170 Eretrian earth has previously been identified as magnesite given that the island of Euboea is well known for its major deposits of this mineral; see K. C. Bailey, The Elder Pliny's Chapters on Chemical Subjects (London, 1960).
6. C. Singer, The Earliest Chemical Industry: An Essay in the Historical Relations of Economics and Technology Illustrated from the Alum Trade (London, 1948).
7. Pliny, Natural History xxxv. 199.
8. G. Stephanides, The Mineralogy of Theophrastus (Athens, 1896).
9. For an attempt to clarify some of the confusion see J. Pittinger. ‘The mineral products of Melos in antiquity and their identification’. BSA 70 (1975), 141-8: B. Sparks, ‘Production and exchange in the Glassieal and Roman periods’, in G. Renfrew and M. Wagstaff (eds), An Island Polity: The Archaeology of Exploitation in Melos (Cambridge, 1982), 228-35.
10. E. Photos-Jones, ‘The Aghia Kyriaki Melos Survey: industrial minerals in the Aegean in the Roman period’, paper presented at the opening of the Melos Mining Museum. Voudia, Melos, May 28th 1998 (a copy of the paper is at the Melos Mining Museum): E. Photos-Jones, A. J. Hall, J. A. Atkinson, G. Tompsett, A. Cottier, and A. McRobb. ‘The elusive earths: prospecting for Industrial Minerals in the Aegean in Roman Aghia Kyriaki’, unpublished report prepared for the Melos Mining Museum, September 1998.
11. D. Mackenzie, ‘Ancient sites in Melos’, BSA 3 (1897), 71-88 he noted (p. 80): ‘Haghia Kyriaki and Palaeochori present exactly the same features as Komia, and belong to the same late Roman era. They are emporia for the Roman exploitation of the mineral wealth of East and South Melos, and we know that the mill-stone quarries of Melos lie in the hill region north-east of Palaeochori.’
12. J. F. Cherry, ‘Register of archaeological sites on Melos’, in Renfrew and Wagstaff (n. 12), 304, site 78.
13. I. Triandi (pers. comm.). These trenches concentrate in areas Z, X, F, I, AA: they have been incorporated within tile present topographical map.
14. I. Triandi (pers. comm.). Pottery from the site recovered in the course of rescue excavations between 1985 and 1989 is currently being studied, as part of a doctoral dissertation, by S. Raptopoulos.
15. B. A. Sparkes, in Renfrew and Wagstaff (n. 12).
16. AR 1989-90, 67: A. Delt. 36. Chr. 381.
17. Numbers in parentheses are those given in Cherry (n. 16): Palaiochori (63) is situated on the adjacent bay to the NE: the valley is flatter than Aghia Kyriaki but is also dissected, albeit to a lesser extent, by erosion gullies. There are kaolin quarries at the head of the valley and offshore thermal springs. Amphorae and lckanai were reported, some with stamps, albeit worn out, Soleta (56-7) was discovered through the villa noted by Pittinger (n. 6) at Agios Pandcleimon; it may be the same as the Early Roman villa at the west end of one of the higher terraces. The site is extensive and stretehes along the terraces at the upper reaches oi the coastal plateau to the east of Palaiochori. A deep gully on the west side runs down to the sea to the east of Cape Spathi. Vitrified pottery wasters bloated and warped attest to pottery manufacture on site. There are Early Roman amphorae and basins with impressions COLO, G HN and also considerable quantities of Late Roman pottery: Asprokavo (96) is a small bay within the bay of Melos. It was formerly a coastal lagoon with a beach ridge cutting off the sea water lagoon. A 3 m high section in the dune has revealed pottery, walls, and floors of Early Roman structures including lekanai and amphorae. There is also a Late Roman site with domestic pottery and glass on the headland to the north, presently damaged by a bulldozer track. There are amphorae and lekane fragments as well as wasters. Emporio (95), a nonsite as described, is actually three sites on the edge of the plain with a sparse scatter of pottery with Early Roman chambered tombs in the plam itself On the east side there is Late Roman and Early Byzantine pottery. The site on the hills immediately to the south is Archaic and Frankish (13th-c.). At the west end at the ridge between Emporio and Asprokavo there is Early Roman pottery including sherds of amphorae and lekanai. The offshore remains are claimed to be medieval. Warped, bloated vitreous wasters point to pottery manufacture. At Kanava (24) there are pottery wasters and at Ambourdektakhi (97) and Achivadolimni there are amphorae and basins. At Plathiena (8) there are amphora and lekane fragments: at Tria Pigadhia (42). Kato Komia (43), and Sta Glastria 107 amphorae and basins. See HG. 1.
18. Ph. Dakoronia, ‘Earthquakes of the Late Helladic III Period (12th century BC), at Kynos (Livanates, Central Greece)’, in S. Stiros and R. E. Jones (eds). Archaeoseismology (Fitch Laboratory Occasional Paper. 7: Athens, 1996), 41-4 at 43 fig. 4.
19. I. Trianti (pers. comm.).
20. M. Fytikas, Geological Map of Greece: Melos Island (IGME: Athens, 1977): P. Shelford, ‘The geology of Miles’, in Renfrew and Wagstaff n. 121. 74-81.
21. D. P. McKenzie, ‘Plate tectonics of the Mediterranean region’, Nature, 226 (1970), 239-4310.1038/226239a0 16057188 A. H. F. Robertson and J. E. Dixon. ‘Introduction: aspects of the geological evolution of the Eastern Mediterranean’, in eid. (eds), The Geological Evolution of the Eastern Mediterranean (Oxford, 1984), 1-74 : M. Fytikas, F. Innocenti, P. Manetti, R. Mazzuoli, A. Peccerillo, and L. Villari. ‘Tertiary to Quaternary evolution of volcanism in the Aegean region’, Geological Map of Greece: Melos Island. 687-99.
22. A. J. Hall, E. Photos-Jones, A. Cottier, D. Turner, and A. McRobb. ‘The geological and geothermal setting of the Roman site at Aghia Kyriaki, Melos, Greece’, paper submitted for publication to the Journal of the Geological Society of London.
23. M. Fytikas, ‘Updating of the geological and geothermal research on Milos Island’. Geothermics, 18 (1989), 485-9610.1016/0375-6505(89)90051-5 M. Fytikas, J. D. Garnish, V. R. S. Hutton, E. Staroste, and J. Wohlenberg. ‘An integrated model for the geothermal field of Milos from geophysical experiments’, Geological Map of Greece: Melos Island. 611-21; P. R. Dando, J. A. Hughes, Y. Leahy, S. J. Niven, L. J. Taylor, and C. Smith. ‘Gas venting rates from submarine hydrothermal areas around the island of Milos. Hellenic Volcanic Arc’. Continental Shelf Research. 15 (1995), 913-2910.1016/0278-4343(95)80002-U.
24. See Fytikas (n. 27).
25. M. Fytikas, F. Innocenti, N. Kolios, P. Manetti, R. Mazzuoli, G. Poli, F. Rita, and L. Villari, ‘Volcanology and petrology of volcanic products from the island of Milos and neighbouring islets’. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 28 (1986), 297-317 10.1016/0377-0273(86)90028-4.
26. See n. 29.
27. Fytikas. Soine hematite was probably also produced more conventionally by oxidation of iron-bearing minerals such as iron-rich illite/smectite and chlorite. The key reactants and products are represented in the (unbalanced) equations
28. D. Davidson and C. Tasker, ‘Geomorphic evolution during the late Holocene’, in Renfrew and Wagstaff (n. 12). 82-94.
29. Fytikas.
30. See n. 29.
31. See n. 9: Singer et al. (n. 31), 242.
32. Pliny, Natural History xxxv. 37.
33. Theophrastns, De lapidibus 62: Vitruvius, De architectura vii. 7. 3: Plutarch. De defectu orraculorum 436 C.
34. Hippocrates, Steril. 225: Ulc. 11. 18.
35. Dioscorides, Mat. med. v. 180.
36. Levidis (n. 43), 210.
37. Caley and Richards (n. 3). 108.
38. Theophrastus de lapidibus. ed. D. E. Eichholz (Oxford, 1963), 129.
39. Pliny, Natural History xxxv. 183-91: Bailey (n. 5), ii. 233, and the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th edn., both observe that Pliny's description of alumen referred to several distinct minerals (‘plura et cuts genera’, xxxv. 183), principally iron sulphates including aluminium sulphate, potash alum, kalinite, and perhaps halotrichites. Iron sulphates. being strong astringents that can cause constipation, were used for treating diarrhoea and dysentry. When applied to broken skin ferric salts are powerful astringents coagulating blood, therefore important as local haemostatics and styptics.
40. Pliny, Natural History xxxv. 184. 188.
41. Theophrastus de lapidibus. 185.
42. Theophrastus de lapidibus. xxxiii. 63.
43. Theophrastus de lapidibus. 88.
44. Theophrastus de lapidibus. xxxv. 183.
45. Theophrastus de lapidibus. 188.
46. Claudius Quadrigarius fr. 81.
47. A. Cottier, ‘Industrial Minerals in the Aegean: Melos in the Classical and Roman Periods’. Ph.D. thesis, University of Glasgow (in progress). Raftopoulos (n. 22) aptly showed that a closer look needs to be paid to the differenee between Pliny's species and genus, translated as ‘kind’ and ‘variety’ in the Loeb edition. Pliny labels one kind of alum as Melian earth, an observation which has inevitably led to much confusion.
48. Pliny, Natural History xxxv. 174.
49. Claudius Quadrigarius fr. 81. 175-7.
50. Claudius Quadrigarius fr. 81. 175.
51. G. Agricola, De re metallica libri XII (Basle, 1556), book iii. p. 58.
52. Sparkes (n. 20), 233-4.
53. D. R. Keller and D. W. Rupp (eds.), Archaeological Survey in the Mediterranean Area (BAR S155: Oxford, 1983).
54. K. Greene, The Archaeology of the Roman Economy (London, 1992).
55. E. Photos-Jones and J. Ellis Jones. ‘The building materials and industrial remains at Agrileza. Laurion fourth century BC and their contribution to the workings at the site’. BSA 89 (1994), 307-64.
56. Trianti (pers. comm.).
57. See Traineau and Dalabakis (n. 19).
58. A chronicler of 1650 in D. Vallianou. ‘New evidence of earthquake desetructions in Late Minoan Crete’, in Stiros and Jones (n. 25), 153-67, at 160.