Archdometallurgie Der Alten Welt Old World Archaeometallurgy
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SONDERDRUCKAUS: ArchdometallurgiederAlten Welt Beitrdgezum lnternationalen Symposium ,,Old World Archaeometallurgy , Heidelberg1987 OldWorld Archaeometallurgy proceedingsof the InternationalSymposium "Old World Archaeometallurgy", Heidelberg1987 DerAnschnitt, Beiheft 7 Herausgeber: AndreasHauptmann ErnstPernicka GUntherA. Wagner Selbstverlagdes Deutschen Bergbau-Museums Bochum1989 Effi Photos/ChaidoKoukouli-Chrysanthaki/Ronald F. Tylecote/GeorgiosGialoglou PreciousMetals Extraction in Palaia Kavala, N.E. Greece AnArchaeometallurgical Attempt to LocateSkapte Hyle Abstract The aim of this long-termstudy is to identifythe precise and the interlyingvalley, east the RiverNestos, and south locationof SkapteHyle, an area in Macedoniafamous in the delta of the same river and the Gulf of Kavala.Ar- antiquityfor its gold and silver mines. Skapte Hyle is chaeometallurgically,Palaia Kavala is renownedfor abun- knownto have been situatedin the ThasianPeraial, the dantevidence of "ancient"mining and large,as yet largely coloniesof Thasoson the coastalstretch of the mainland, undated,slag heaps.These activitiescan be attributed oppositethe island,from the 7th centuryBC to the Roman eitherto antiquityor to the Ottomanperiod or both. period. Recently re-evaluateddocumentary and ar- The long-termaim of this projectis to discoverthe location chaeologicalevidence has suggestedthat the regionof of SkapteHyle, a "villageor town oppositeThasos"2, fa- PalaiaKavala, north-east of the town prob- of Kavala,was mousin antiquityfor its preciousmetals, particularly gold. ably the main metalliferouszone of the ThasianPeraia Herodotusreports that in the Sth centuryBC Skapte Hyle andthus Skapte Hyle should be soughtthere. was includedwithin the Peraia,the coloniesof Thasoson The attemptto locateSkapte Hyle will be achievedin two the coastalstrip of the mainland3,and that the Thasians stages.The firstinvolves the evaluationof the type of ex- were benefittingconsiderably from its mineralwealth to a tractivemetallurgical practices through the analysisof ex- far greaterextent than from their own mines.In the next tensive metallurgicalwaste, ores and artefactsfound at sectionit is arguedthat Skapte Hyle should be sought PalaiaKavala. In the second,the excavationof selected withinPalaia Kavala. However, the task of locatingSkapte metal-workingsites and the dating of a numberof slag Hyle, and thus the metal-workingactivities of the Late heaoswill be undertaken. Classicaland Hellenisticperiods, is a particularlydifficult This reportconcentrates on the preliminaryresults of the one in view of the size of the areaand the enormousvol- analyticalinvestigation of the metallurgicalwaste and re- ume of metal-workingremains. Therefore, before excava- veals an elaborateprocedure for retrievingprecious met- tion and datingof one or more sites is undertaken,it is es- alsfrom mainly Mn-rich iron ores. The dateof theseopera- sentialto establishwhether Palaia Kavala was indeeda tions (antiquityandlor Ottoman) is not yet known.The re- preciousmetals producing area and therebya candidate sultspresented here have shed considerablelight on the regionfrom the pointof viewof miningand metal-working. extractivepyrometallurgical processes at Palaia Kavala, With that aim in mindthis reportpresents the preliminary butat thesame time have given rise to newquestions con- analyticalinvestigation of the archaeometallurgicalre- cerningthe preciselocation of that renownedmetals-pro- mains of that region as well as the documentary/ar- ducingarea. chaeologicalevidence (both in antiquityand laterperiods) whichsupport the argumentthat SkapteHyle shouldbe Introduction soughtin PalaiaKavala. PalaiaKavala is the regionencompassing the southern The morphologyof Palaia Kavala consistsof summit flankof the Lekanimountain range, taking its namefrom ridges(max. height '1300 m) whichalternate with deep val- one of the villagesincluded in it (Fig.21.1-2).lt does not leyscriss-crossing the region.The geologyof the area is constitutea geographicalregion. The name has been crystallineschists with marbleintercallations and granites usedby the Instituteof Geologicaland MiningExploration with pegmatic and applitic offshoots penetrating the (IGME)to denotean areawith Mn-richiron mineralisation. metamorphicrocksa. The iron ore depositsof the Lekani The regionis delineatedclockwise from the west (Fig. range are of hydrothermalorigin and occur as lissure 21.1) by the Plainof Drama,north the Falakronmountain veins betweenmarble and schist.They are presentin as- 179 E. Photoset al. t''''-'' ! t'...r.- I BULGARTA i .-._.....r-.i'''t' ,.-,..2' -.-. \.i ',' -. -/n'''' . drt 1 2. t" \ \. ..-'-'-.f -.\-.-. x -./'-' -' *.f- i _t|r \._. -. 'ttakron ,i .. t. 'j 'a .. ,, oXanthi .Kwtlni aScrnl 4o 's'ii ". .^ .o' *i "-t -. ?i. $1"1*,. s :> CHALKIDIKI : = : Fig.21 .1 : Map of EasternMacedonia with sites referredto in the text: 1 : Olympias,2 Kata$o, 3 VathytoPos,4 DikiliTqsh, ! I Siiagroi,6=Nikisiani,T:Eleftheroupolis,S:Philippoi,9:Amygdaleonas,10=Zygos, 11:Kirgia, 12:PalaiaKavala, 13:Tria Karagatsia,14: Lekani,15: Kechrokampos,16: Pyrgiskos,17 = Kastanies,18 = Makrychori,19: Petropigi,20: Perni Fi1.21.2: Map of PalaiaKavala region, Pangaion and the ThasianPeraia S.LG*AilI AA A .'tllF5 -all{ rryt"*'*' : " *,*"1, 1A 180 PreciousMetals Extraction in N. E.Greece sociationwith Mn (27-43% iron oxide' 18-437:o man- ganeseoxide) with the addedpresence of otherelements like Pb,Zn, As and alsoAu and Ag. The iron-manganese ores derivefrom the oxidationof sulfides(pyrite' galena, chalcopyrite)which are includedin smallamountss. Two zonesof mineralization(one with a north-eastern,another with north-westerndirection) are evident in the area and seem to be distincton both chemicaland mineralogical groundso.This distinctionmay proveto have some bear- ing on the archaeometallurgyof the region.The north- easternmineralization, which includesthe occurrenceat Korizo Lolos (1 km south of the slag heaps at Tria Karagatsia,Fig. 21.2),consists of iron-manganeseores Fig.21 .3: Dipotamos.Plates of speiss associatedwith Pb, Zn, andAg. The north-western,which includesthe occurrence at Chalkero,is associatedwith Cu and Au and occasionallyBi with low contentsof Mn, Pb, evidencefor gold and copper working,slag fragments Zn andabsence of Ag. Arsenicis presentin both7. (melting?)and crucibleslT,while at DikiliTash, the occur- of Palaia Kavala ores revealedthe lollowing Analyses rence of copper slag points to attemptsto smelt copper mean values for main elements: 26'4% Fe (range ores as earlyas the 5th millennium8C18. The smeltingof o-52%), 8.8% Mn (0-33%), 3.8% Pb (0-57%), copperat the EarlyBronze Age phaseof thissettlement is 23% As (0- 18%), 1.2% Zn (0-6 %), 0.35% Cu currentlybeing verifiedby analyticalinvestigationle. On (O-4%). The mean silverand gold valueswere 56 ppm the other hand,at Vathytopos(Fig.21 .1), there are eye- Ag (range0-420 ppm)and 1 ppm Au (range0-42 ppm). witness accountsof bloomery iron smelting furnaces, Amongother trace elements measured, the following were blown by water-poweredbellows, in operationat the turn included:Ba, Sb, Sr, Cd, Sn and Bi8. of this century20.Thus, the situationin Macedoniapres- Evidencefor undergroundmining in the regionabounds. entsa uniqueopportunity for a diachronicstudy of lerrous Ancientgalleries are concentratedin the areaoutlined by and non-ferrousore miningand metalsextraction which thevillages of Amygdaleonas,Zygos and PalaiaKavala, in hasonly recentlybegun to be sortedout. additionto othersin the regionof Chalkero,Perni an Pe- There have been two periodsof intenseactivity in the ex- tropigi(Fig. 21.2)e.The metal-workingsites lie eitheron ploitation of precious metals in Central and East mountainplateaux or slopesor the foothillsof the Lekani Macedonia:in antiquityand during the Ottomanperiod mountains.The volumeof the slag heapsranges from a (1453-1912)21.In antiquitythe classicalsources refer to few hundred tons (Makrychori,Tria Karagatsia,Di- two metals-richareas, namely Pangaion22and Skapte potamos)to a few tons (Pyrgiskos,Kastanies) (Fig. 21.2). Hyle23.Both areas are known in the classicalsources as Leadsystems for channellingwater to as yet undiscovered both silver and gold producers.Although there are few furnaces are occasionally evident. doubts as to the locationof Pangaion,the positionof product Apartfrom slag, speiss - a metallic"waste" con- SkapteHyle has beenthe subjectof muchdebate and ex- sistingof iron arsenides- was recoveredfrom the slag tended controversy. For the location of the latter, two pres- heapsbut in smallerquantitiesl0. Speissll is usually areashave been favoured: ent in the form of platesor shapelesslumps of various a) on or nearPangaion2a, sizesor prillscaught within the slag(Fig. 21'3). Speiss has b) on the southernslopes of Lekanimountain2s. alsobeen found at Nikisianion Pangaion(Fig' 21 .2\12 ' The mostimportant arguments against the firsthypothesis havebeen set out by one of us26and includethe following: Historicaland ArchaeologicalBackground a) in no classicalsource is SkapteHyle locatedon Pan- The archaeometallurgicalremains of Central and East gaion.The connectionand subsequentconfusion with the Macedoniaand the island of Thasos,Greece's richest lattercame aboutby some historiansand archaeologists, metalliferousprovince, have been the subjectof a number based on the fact that both areas were precious metals of investigationsinto metals technologyl3 as well as prove- prooucers. nance-relatedquestionsl4. In East Macedoniathere are of Xerxes' inva- indicationsof indigenousmetals