“INDUSTRIAL” ROCKS AND MINERALS IN STRABO’S ANCIENT WORLD (1ST CENTURY A.D.)
Abstract
Industrial rocks and minerals of the modern world comprise of natural products applied in e.g. energy, cement, plastics, fillers, food, computer hardware etc. Indeed, the applications of these minerals are enormous and versatile. On the other hand, industrialization had not occurred during the 1st century A.D., when Strabo, the famous geographer of the Roman era lived. Thus, the term “industrial” used in this study has a rather philological meaning and refers to the useful rocks and minerals in the ancient times. Metallic ores (copper, iron, zinc etc.), precious metals (gold, silver) and earth minerals (e.g. Kimolo’s earth, Chalkidiki’s earth, Sinopi’s earth etc.) are not included in this study. Humans of the antiquity needed building rocks, medical and pharmaceautical minerals, fertilizers for their crops, sealing agents and millstones, just to mention a few of them. The identification and classification of these valuable “industrial” rocks and minerals, mentioned in Strabo’s Geographica, is the scope of this work. The spatial distribution of these mineral resources in the ancient world of that time, is also studied. The main industrial rocks and minerals are (in descending order of the number of citations): salt, marble, asphalt, quarry rocks, sulphur, millstones, pyroclastics, clays, soda (sodium carbonate), naphtha (petroleum), asbestos and sand.
Article Details
- How to Cite
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Iordanidis, A. (2016). “INDUSTRIAL” ROCKS AND MINERALS IN STRABO’S ANCIENT WORLD (1ST CENTURY A.D.). Bulletin of the Geological Society of Greece, 50(1), 218–228. https://doi.org/10.12681/bgsg.11722
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- Teaching Earth Sciences
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