The exploitation of emery on the island of Samos: Existing data and research perspectives
PDF
suppl-1
suppl-2
suppl-3
suppl-4
suppl-5
suppl-6
suppl-7
suppl-8
suppl-9
suppl-10
suppl-11
suppl-12
suppl-13
suppl-14
Published:
Oct 2, 2018
Keywords:
Samos ancient mining metabauxites emery diasporites ancient tools
Abstract
The possible exploitation of eastern Samos emery deposits during the antiquity is explored, taking into account the attested emery mining on the island, during the 19th and 20th c. A.D. Is it possible that Samos diasporitic emery had been used in a similar way with the diasporite and/or corundite emery of Naxos, the main and best known emery source in the Aegean archipelago? As a first step for the investigation of this question, existing geological and historical data on Samian emery are collated and then examined with reference to the Naxian mineral. As far as the mineralogical structure of the Samos emery is concerned, besides the existing data, XRD mineralogical analysis, XRF/ICP major and trace element analysis and SEM-EDS micro-analysis was conducted, in order to recognize specific features of the Samos diasporite deposit. Finally, the few known archaeological findings that may indicate a probable ancient exploitation of the Samos emery are presented, underlining the need of further geological and archaeological research in the Aegean Region and Western Anatolia, in order to draw wider conclusions.
Article Details
- How to Cite
-
Stamatakis, M., & Malegiannaki, I. A. (2018). The exploitation of emery on the island of Samos: Existing data and research perspectives. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Greece, 53(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.12681/bgsg.18575
- Section
- Geoarchaeology
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g. post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (preferably in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Archontakis, M. N., Giannoulis, G. G., 2001. Poetry incised on the rock (in Greek). Atrapos, Athens.
Archontakis, M, N., Giannoulis, G. G., 2006. The emery of Naxos: Historical και sociopolitical references (in Greek). In: Sergis M., Psarras, St. (Eds), Naxos Sailing through time. Municipality of Naxos, Naxos, 487- 499 pp.
Aronis, G., 1950. Geological report for the recognition of metalliferous occurences in the island of Samos (in Greek). IGME, Athens.
Balodimou, M., 2005. Ramps for loading minerals at the Aegean (in Greek). Historical mines of the Aegean sea 19th – 20th c. Conference, Milos, October 3-5, 2003. Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation, Athens.
Belavilas, Ν., Papastefanaki, L. (Eds.), 2009. Mines at the Aegean: Industrial archaeology in Greece (in Greek). Melissa, Athens.
Jansen, J. B. H., 1977. The geology of Naxos. IGME, Athens.
Betancourt, Ph. P., 1990. The Stone Vessels of Pseira. Expedition 32, Ιs. 3, 15-21.
Bevan, A., 2007. Stone vessels and values in the Bronze Age Mediterranean. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Boleti, A., 2006. The use of emery in the Bronze Age Aegean and eastern Mediterranean: methodological approaches and preliminary results. 2nd International Conference on Ancient Greek Technology, Athens, Οctober 17-21, 2005, 276-283.
Boleti, A., 2009. L' exploitation de l'émeri en Égée et en Méditerranée Orientale à l'Âge du bronze. Ph.D. Thesis, Université Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne, Paris.
Boleti, A., 2013. Uses of emery in the prehistoric Aegean. In Promponas, I., Psarras, St. (Eds.), Naxos through the ages, 4th Panhellenic Conference, Comiaki 4-7 September, 2008, 55-70. Accessed January 7, 2015. http://www.naxosculture.gr/assets/contents/files/praktika.pdf
Boleti, A., 2014, Des outils simples en émeri dans le monde égéen. Une approche ethnoarchéologique. Artefact 2, 169-179.
Boulotis, Ch., 1983. The Cretan-Mycenaean seal glyptic (in Greek). Archaeology and Arts 9, 19-26.
Brewster, D. LL. D., 1830. The Edinburgh encyclopaedia, Vol. 17. William Blackwood, Edinburgh.
Broodbank, C., 1999. Colonization and configuration in the insular Neolithic of the Aegean. In Halstead, P. (Ed.), Neolithic Society in Greece (Sheffield Studies in Aegean Archaeology 2), 15-41. Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield.
Broodbank, C., 2000. An Island Archaeology of the Early Cyclades. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Caley, E. R., Richards, J. F.C., 1956. Theophrastus on stones. Ohio City University, Columbus.
Caramessini-Oeconomides, M., Drossoyianni, Ph., 1989. A hoard of Byzantine gold coins from Samos. Revue numismatique 6e série, Tome 31, 145-182.
Casson, St., 1933. The technique of early Greek Sculpture. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Davis, J. L., 2001. Review of Aegean Prehistory I: The islands of the Aegean. In Cullen, Tr. (Ed.), Aegean Prehistory – a review, 19-76. Archaeological Institute of America, Boston, Massachusetts.
Dearborn, H. A.S., 1819. A memoir on the commerce and navigation of the black sea and the trade and maritime geography of Turkey and Egypt (vol. II). Wells and Lilly, Boston.
Dimou, Ε., Charalambidi, P., Epitropou, Ν., 2006. Mining activity in the island of Samos (in Greek). IGME, Athens.
Dioscorides, 2000. Dioscorides. De materia medica. - five books in one volume: A new English translation by T.A.Osbaldeston. Introductory notes by R.P.Wood. IBIDIS Press, Johannesburg, South Africa. Accessed January 7, 2015. http://panaceavera.com/demateriafive.html
Feenstra, A., 1985. Metamorphism of bauxites on Naxos, Greece. Ph.D. Thesis, Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht, Geologica Ulraiectina 39.
Feenstra, A., 1997. Zincohogbomite and gahnite in a diaspore-bearing metabauxite from eastern Samos (Greece): mineral chemistry, element partitioning and reaction relations. Schweizerische Mineralogische und Petrographische Mitteilungen 77, 73–93.
Feenstra, A., Urai, J., Wunder, B., 2001. The diasporite-corundite rock transformation in the Naxos metakarstbauxites: an example of dehydration-controlled weakening and recrystallisation. 13th Meeting Deformation, Mechanisms, Rheology and Tectonics, Noordwijkerhout, Netherlands. Accessed December 30, 2014. http://www.ged.rwth-aachen.de/files/publications/publication_416.pdf
Felsch, R. C. S., 1988. Das Kastro Tigani: Die spätneolithische und chalkolithische Siedlung. Samos II. Rudolf Habelt, Bonn.
Fenning, D., Collyer, J., 1766. A new system of geography: or a general description of the world. Crowder, London.
Fleming, W., 1838. A gazetteer of the old and new testaments (vol. II). The Edinburgh printing and publishing company, Edinburgh.
Fragkiskos, Α., 2006. Prominence and utilization of the historical industrial equipment in the emery mines of Naxos (in Greek). In Sergis, M., Psarras, St. (Eds), Naxos Sailing through time, 501- 510. Municipality of Naxos, Naxos.
Gessner, Kl., Ring, U., Güngör, T., 2011. Field Guide to Samos and the Menderes Massif: Along-Strike Variations in the Mediterranean Tethyan Orogen. The Geological Society of America Field Guide 23, 1-52. doi: 10.1130/9780813700236
Getz-Preziosi, P., 1994. Early Cycladic Sculpture, an introduction: Revised edition. The J. Paul Getty Museum, California.
Hatipoğlu, M., Helvaci, C., Chamberlain, S. C., Babalik, H., 2010a. Mineralogical characteristics of unusual “Anatolian” diaspore (zultanite) crystals from the İlbirdaği diasporite deposit, Turkey. Journal of Africal Earth Sciences 57, 525-541. doi: 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2010.01.002
Hatipoğlu, M., Türk, N., Chamberlain, S. C., Akgün, A. M., 2010b. Metabauxite horizons containing remobilized-origin gem diaspore and related mineralization, Milas-Muğla province, SW Turkey. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 39, 359-370. doi: 10.1016/j.jseaes.2010.04.016
Heidenreich, R., 1935–36. Vorgeschichtliches in der Stadt Samos. Die Funde. AM 60-61, 125-183.
Iliopoulos, Ι., 2005. Petrogenesis of the metamorphic rocks of Ikaria island (in Greek). Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Geology University of Patras, Patras.
Jacob, F. B., 1928. The abrasive handbook. The Penton Publishing Company, Cleveland.
Jolivet, L., Rimmele, G., Oberhansli, R., Goffé, B., Candan, O., 2004. Correlation of syn-orogenic tectonic and metamorphic events in the Cyclades, the Lycian nappes and the Menderes massif. Geodynamic implications. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 175, No. 3, 217-238.
King, C.W., 1866. Antique gems: their origins, uses and value as interpreters of ancient history: and as illustrative of ancient art: with hints to gem collectors. London: John Murray. Accessed December 27, 2014. http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark:/13960/t6930sb27;view=1up;seq=5
Korais, A., 1835. Atakta, Vol. 5 (in Greek). Everartos, Paris.
Kotsakis, Th., 2005. The Naxian emery and its exploitation, short historical background (in Greek). Historical mines of the Aegean sea 19th – 20th c. Conference, Milos, October 3-5, 2003, 77-81. Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation, Athens.
Kouka, O., 2012. Prehistoric Ionia Reconsidered: New Excavations at the Heraion, Samos, and on the Western Littoral of Asia Minor (The Mycenaean Seminar 2010-11). Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies University of London 55.2, 125-126.
Kouka, O., 2013. ‘Minding the Gap’ Against the Gaps: The Early Bronze Age and the Transition to the Middle Bronze Age in the Northern and Eastern Aegean/Western Anatolia. AJA 117, 569–80. doi: 10.3764/aja.117.4.0569
Kouka, O., 2014a. Past Stories - Modern Narratives: Cultural Dialogues between East Aegean Islands and the West Anatolian Mainland in the 4th Millennium BC. In Horejs, B., Mehofer, M. (Eds), Western Anatolia before Troy. Proto-Urbanisation in the 4thMillennium BC?, 43-63. Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien.
Kouka, O., 2014b. The Prehistoric Settlement under the Heraion of Samos. In Gagatsis, A., Eteokleous, P. (Eds), A. G. Leventis Research Projects 2000-2016. Reviews and Contribution, 51-63. University of Cyprus, Nicosia.
Kritikidis, E., 1869. Ancient and modern topography of Samos (in Greek). Renieris Printezis Editions, Ermoupoli.
Lambraki, A., 1983. The stone cutting saw in the quarry (in Greek). Archaeology and Arts 9, 73.
Lapparent, J. de., 1937. L' emeri de Samos. Mineralogische und Petrographische Mitteilungen 49, 1 -30.
Lazarov, S., 2008. The challenges facing the diamond edge in its contact with the precious stone when engraving gems (intaglios and cameos). In
Kostov, R. I., Gaydarska, B., Gurova, M. (Eds), International Conference of Geoarchaeology and Archaeomineralogy, Sofia October 29-30, 2008, 98-102. St. Ivan Rilski Publishing House, Sofia.
Long, L., 2012. Marble at Aphrodisias: The Regional Marble Quarries. In Ratté, C., Staebler, P. De (Eds), The Aphrodisias Regional Survey: Special Studies, 165-202. Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Aphrodisias, V. Mainz.
Milojčić, V., 1961. Die prähistorische Siedlung unter dem Heraion:Grabung 1953 und 1955. Samos 1. Rudolf Habelt, Bonn.
Mposkos, E., Perdikatzis, V., 1981. Die Paragonit-Chloritoid fuhrenden schiefer des sudwestlichen bereiches des Kerkis auf Samos (Griechenland). N. Jb. Miner. Abh. 142, 292-308.
Mposkos, E., 1986. The metamorphic basement of Samos: evidences indicating the type and grade of metamorphism (in Greek). Bull. Geol. Soc. Greece 18, 223-236.
Nikolaou, M., 2005. Minerals, rocks and civilization (in Greek). Goulandri Museum of Natural History, Kifissia.
Niemeier, W. D., 1984. The end of Minoan Thalassocracy. In Hägg, R., Marinatos, N. (Eds), The Minoan Thalassocracy: Myth and Reality, Skr Ath 4, 32, 205-214. Svenska Institutet i Athen, Stockholm.
Niemeier, W. D., 2009. “Minoanisation” versus “Minoan thalassocrassy” – an introduction. In Macdonald, C. F., Hallager, E., Niemeier, W. D. (Eds), The Minoans in the central, eastern and northern Aegean – new evidence, 11-21. The Danish Institute at Athens, Athens.
Oeconomides, M., Drossoyianni, Ph., 1986. A hoard of gold coins from Samos: (ca. 620 A.D.). 17th International Byzantine Congress, Dumbarton Oaks/Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., August 3-8, 1986, 241-2.
Oustinoff, E., 1984. The manufacture of Cycladic figurines: a practical approach. In Fitton, J. L. (Ed.), Cycladica: Studies in Memory of N.P. Goulandris. Proceedings of the Seventh British Museum Classical Colloquium, June 1983, 38-47. British Museum Press, London.
Papanikolaou, D., 1979. Unités tectoniques et phases de déformation dans l'île de Samos, Mer Egée, Grèce. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 7, 21, 745-752. doi:10.2113/gssgfbull.S7-XXI.6.745
“Emery mine concession” (in Greek), 1898. Eynomia, March 26.
Pelon, Ol., 1983. L'épée à l'acrobate et la chronologie maliote ( II ). BCH 107 livraison 2, 679-703. doi: 10.3406/bch.1983.4789
Philaniotou, O., 2006. Prehistoric Naxos – From the Late Neolithic until the end of the Mycenaean era” (in Greek). In Sergis, M., Psarras, St. (Eds), Naxos Sailing through time, 29- 41. Municipality of Naxos, Naxos.
Pliny, the Elder, 1855. The Natural History, translated by John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. Taylor and Francis, London. Accessed January 5, 2015. http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0978.phi001.perseus-eng1:36.9
Polyzos, G., Fragkiskos, A., Katerini, T., Belavilas, N., Plytas, A., 1997. Documentation and reevaluation of historic industrial equipment in Naxos emery mines (in Greek). Technical University of Athens. Accessed December 29, 2014. http://courses.arch.ntua.gr/111927.html
Pratt, J. H., 1906. Corundum and its occurrence and distribution in the United States. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 269, 116.
Slot, B., 2008. The “authentic Naxian emery” in the international economy (in Greek). Flea, 19, 17- 19.
Slot, B., 2013. Trade and use of the authentic emery of Naxos 1304-1824 (in Greek). In Promponas, I., Psarras, St. (Eds), Naxos through the ages, 4rth Panhellenic Conference, Comiaki 4-7 September, 2008, 225-232. Accessed January 7, 2015. http://www.naxosculture.gr/assets/contents/files/praktika.pdf
Smith, J L., 1878. Mineralogy and chemistry: original researches. Louisville, KY: John P. Morton and company. Accessed February 7, 2015. http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa&cc=moa&view=text&rgn=main&idno=AGJ0477.0001.001
Stamatiadis, Εp., 1886. Samian issues or History of the island of Samos from the ancient times until nowadays (in Greek), Vol. 4. Hegemonic Publishing, Samos.
“The mines” (in Greek). 1897. Fos, August 31.
Theye, T., Hatert, F., Ockenga, E., Bertoldi, C., Lathe, C., 2010. Gramaccioliite-(Y): paragenesis chemistry, and structure in a new occurrence, Samos Island, Greece. Eur. J. Mineral 22, 443–452. doi: 10.1127/0935-1221/2010/0022-2020
Tournefort, J. P. De, 1741. A voyage into the Levant: Letter 3: description of Samos, Patmos, Fourni and Skyros. London: D. Midwinter [etc.]. Accessed December 27, 2010. https://archive.org/details/avoyageintoleva00tourgoog
Tsakos, K., Viglaki-Sofianou, M., 2012. Samos: The Archaeological Museums. Latsis Foundation, Athens.
Urai, J. L., Feenstra, A., 2001. Weakening associated with the diaspore-corundum dehydration reaction in metabauxites: an example from Naxos (Greece). Journal of Structural Geology 23, 941-950. doi: 10.1016/S0191-8141(00)00165-6
Warren, P., 1969. Minoan Stone Vases. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Younger, J. G., 1981. Creating a sealstone. Expedition 23, Is.4, 31-38.
Zafeiropoulou, Ph. Ν., 2006. Naxos and its diachronic cultural presence (in Greek). In Sergis, M., Psarras, St. (Eds), Naxos Sailing through time, 78- 66. Municipality of Naxos, Naxos.
