Mines of Laurion
The mines of Laurion (or Lavrion)[1] are ancient silver mines located in southern Attica, between Thoricus and Cape Sounion, approximately 50 kilometers south of Athens, in Greece. A number of remnants of these mines (shafts, galleries, surface workshops) are still present in the region.
Abandoned in the 1st century BC, the mines were "rediscovered" in 1860 and exploited by French and Greek companies until 1977.
History of exploitation
Referring to the mines in his 354 BC work Ways and Means, Xenophon wrote:[2]
It is clear, I presume, to every one that these mines have for a very long time been in active operation; at any rate no one will venture to fix the date at which they first began to be worked.
In fact, the exploitation of the mines stretches from the Bronze Age: isotopic analyses of lead present in objects of this era indicate that they were made in large part from metal extracted from the Laurion mines.
See also
References
- ↑ http://ancient-greece.org/archaeology/lavrion.html
- ↑ Xenophon, On Revenues, Translated by H. G. Dakyns.
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