voor mijn grootmoeder, Georgette Cappelle Promotor Prof. dr. Roald Docter Vakgroep Archeologie Decaan Prof. dr. Marc Boone Rector Prof. dr. Anne De Paepe Faculteit Letteren & Wijsbegeerte Kim Van Liefferinge Technological change in the Laurion silver mining area during the fifth and fourth centuries BC An archaeological contribution to the study of the Athenian economy Proefschrift voorgelegd tot het behalen van de graad van Doctor in de archeologie 2014 Acknowledgements This PhD would not have been possible without a long list of people, who each supported me in their own special way. First of all, I am indebted to my supervisor, Roald Docter, who enabled me to work at the beautiful site of Thorikos and gave me the liberty to organise my work as I saw fit. Second, I would like to express my gratitude to the Belgian School at Athens, specifically Jan Driessen and Panagiotis Iossif, and the second Ephorate of Antiquities. I have very much appreciated the help and flexible attitude of Andreas Kapetanios, Dimitra Kai and Maria Skalias during our excavations at Thorikos. Thirdly, I should mention several specialists, who helped me to make sense of topics out of my comfort zone: Denis Morin, Demetris Koutsoyiannis, Floris van den Eijnde, Niko Verhoest, Martinus van den Berg and Cornelis Stal. Thank you. Fourth comes the most important group: my friends and family. A big thanks to my grandmother, parents and sister for caring for me and listening to my undoubtedly endless list of frustrations. You are surely my greatest supporters. I would like to end with a special word of thanks to some friends in specific. My two beautiful ladies, Karen and Mahdokht, thanks for sharing all those tasty cappuccino’s during the work breaks. Caffeine and good company are the perfect cocktail to make the writing process bearable. Annelies, thanks for making 2013 the exciting year it was. I am sure we will have plenty of great projects, from books to travels, ahead of us. Last but not least, I want to put two special people in the spotlight: Guy and Thomas. Thank you for the many discussions (this time over a bunch of less innocent drinks), the fieldwalks through the Laurion, your interest, time and support. The two of you undoubtedly made the biggest contribution to this PhD. v Tὴν δ᾽ ἐπιμέλειαν φράζων τὴν τῶν μεταλλευόντων παρατίθησι τὸ τοῦ Φαληρέως, ὅτι φησὶν ἐκεῖνος ἐπὶ τῶν Ἀττικῶν ἀργυρείων, οὕτω συντόνως ὀρύττειν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ὡς ἂν προσδοκώντων αὐτὸν ἀνάξειν τὸν Πλούτωνα. Demetrius [of Phaleron], he says, states in reference to the Attic silver mines, that the people dig as strenuously as if they expected to bring up Pluto himself. Strabo, Geography 3.2.9 vii List of Tables Table 1 List of the χαράδραι, as mentioned in the mine leases. 27 ix List of Figures Figure 1 Overview map of the Laurion (map by author). 9 Figure 2 Schematic representation of the geological stratigraphy of the Laurion (after Marinos and Petrascheck 1956, Fig. 11). 13 Figure 3 Geological map of the Laurion (Marinos and Petrasheck 1956). 14 Figure 4 The hydrologic cycle (after Sorooshian & Whitaker 2003, Fig. 3). 21 Figure 5 Water balance at the catchment scale (after Sorooshian & Whitaker 2003, Fig. 3). 22 Figure 6 Schematic representation of rainwater infiltration in the underground at Mikro Ripari, near Aghios Konstantinos (after Marinos and Marinos 1981, Fig. 23). 23 Figure 7 Insula 2, Thorikos (map and photo by author). 25 Figure 8 Building phases of the shrine of Hygieia in the Industrial Quarter (map by author). 33 Figure 9 Find locations of Late Classical and Early Hellenistic material in Thorikos with on the left the Industrial Quarter and on the right the Theatre zone (Mortier 2011, Fig. 1). 41 Figure 10 Random changes over time (after Persson 1988, Fig. 1.2). 56 Figure 11 Division of labour (DL) versus non division of labour (NDL) (after Persson 1988, Fig. 1.3). 58 Figure 12 Chaîne opératoire of the ore dressing process (Photos-Jones and Ellis Jones 1994, Fig. 8). 62 Figure 13 Jigging (De Re Metallica 8, 331). 70 Figure 14 Use of cloths during the concentration of surface gold deposits (De Re Metallica 8, 331). 71 Figure 15 Washing of ores by means of a buddle (De Re Metallica 8, 301). 71 Figure 16 Painting of Heinrich Gross (École des Beaux Arts de Paris, E.B.A nr. M11) (Morin-Hamon 2013, Fig. 10). 73 Figure 17 Drawing of Claes Dirckz van der Hecke, “Mountainous landscape with mine” (Morin-Hamon 2013, Fig. 37b). 74 Figure 18 An ore washery discovered close to the gold mines of Limousin (Cauuet 1999, Fig. 44). 76 Figure 19 The washery of Coto Fortuna (Domergue 2008, Fig. 97). 77 Figure 20 Washery 7 (left) and 9 (right) in the Bertseko Valley. (after Kakavoyiannis 2005, Fig. 37). 80 Figure 21 A washery in the Berseko Valley (photo taken by author in August 2012). 81 xi Figure 22 The riverbed of the Bertseko Valley with several washeries on the background (photo taken by author in august 2012 from the east valley flank). 82 Figure 23 Compound C, Agrileza (After Photos-Jones and Ellis Jones 1994, Fig. 3). 83 Figure 24 Washery Π’3 in Workshop 3, Asklepiakon, Soureza Valley (after Tsaïmou 1988, Figure A95). 86 Figure 25 Washery Π’3 (photo taken by author in July 2013). 86 Figure 26 Inner wall of a cistern in the Soureza Valley, showing the first lime coating provided with scratches (photo taken by author in July 2011). 88 Figure 27 Black hydraulic mortar applied on a cistern (photo taken by author in July 2011). 88 Figure 28 The silver processing workshop Ari III, with on the right a circular sluice (after Tsaïmou 2008, Fig. 8). 91 Figure 29 The circular installation at Ari II. Reconstruction of the work process according to Tsaïmou (after Tsaïmou 2005, Fig. 5). 91 Figure 30 The ‘helicoidal washery’ at Demoliaki (Salliora-Oikonomakou 2007, Fig. 7). 92 Figure 31 Reconstruction of the circular installations according to Conophagos (Conophagos 1980, Fig. 10-34). 94 Figure 32 Type I and II washery (Conophagos 1980, Fig. 10-16). 95 Figure 33 The beneficiation process according to Negris (Domergue 2008, Fig. 94). 97 Figure 34 Type I ore washery and the beneficiation process according to Conophagos (1980) (After Salliora-Oikonomakou 2007, Fig. 5 and Conophagos 1980, Fig. 10-18). 98 Figure 35 The work process in washery A at the Zoridis workshop according to Zoridis (1980) (After Zoridis (1980), Figure 3-4). 104 Figure 36 Type II washeries in the heartland of the Laurion (After Kakavoyianni 1989-91, Fig. 4-8). 105 Figure 37 The Skitzeri workshop (Oikonomakou 1976-1977, Fig. 2). 106 Figure 38 Small variations in the rectangular washery plan (Ellis Jones 1982, Fig.2). 107 Figure 39 Washery C and D at Demoliaki (After Mussche and Conophagos 1973, Plan 2). 108 Figure 40 Washery A, Agrileza (Ellis Jones 1985, Fig. 5). 109 Figure 41 Washery west of the Belplast factory (after Ellis Jones 1984, Fig. 16). 110 Figure 42 Washery no. 11 in Thorikos (map by author). 111 Figure 43 Staircase in cistern Δ3, Asklepiakon workshops (photo taken by author in July 2012). 113 Figure 44 Stepping stone in a cistern in the lower Soureza Valley (photo: author). 113 Figure 45 Column inside a cistern, upper branch of the Soureza Valley (photo taken by author in August 2011). 114 Figure 46 The Botsari Valley with a central supply channel providing the workshops (Ardaillon 1897). 115 Figure 47 Supply channels in the Soureza Valley. A) Agia Triada Excavations, B) North of Soureza Valley (Van Liefferinge et al. 2014a, Fig. 11). 116 Figure 48 Example of a large cistern in the upper branch of the Soureza Valley (photo taken by author in July 2011). 117 Figure 49 Map of a topographical survey executed in 1971 in the upper Soureza Valley (Conophagos 1980, Fig. 10-25). 118 xii Figure 50 List of the 60 cisterns in the Soureza Valley based upon the 1971 survey (Petropoulakou and Pedazou 1973) with measurements and volumes (table author). 119 Figure 51 The furnace complex of Pountazeza (Conophagos 1980, Fig. 11-7). 121 Figure 52 Flow-chart depicting technological sequences at Laurion (flow-chart by author). 123 Figure 53 Distribution map of the mine-shafts, washeries and cisterns in the Laurion area by Conophagos (Conophagos 1980, Fig. 1-2). 128 Figure 54 A. Mine buying/registering by Index (Shipton 2000, 30, “Mines 1”); B: Land leasing/guaranteeing by Index (Shipton 2000, 40, “Land 1”). 132 Figure 55 Contributing area of the Thorikos region (map by author and M. van den Berg). 137 Figure 56 Contributing area of the central Laurion valleys (map by author, M. van den Berg and C. Stal). 138 Figure 57 Recent five-year rainfall time series taken from the rain gauge of the Athens. 140 Figure 58 The three metallurgical complexes (A-B-C) in Thorikos (map by author and C. Stal). 142 Figure 59 The metallurgy complex A (map by author). 143 Figure 60 The Cistern no.1 workshop in Thorikos (map by author). 144 Figure 61 The Washery no.1 workshop in Thorikos (map by author). 145 Figure 62 Zoom of the contributing area map, showing the lower slopes of the Velatouri Hill and the runoff values, expressed in pixels (map by author and C. Stal). 146 Figure 63 Graphs representing the percentage of dry time in relation to the number of nozzles/washery. A) The full red curve shows the washery’s use during the full time series, the dotted lines only the last two (much wetter) years; B) Seasonal washery use from September until March (dotted curve) is represented in contrast to continuous use throughout the year (full curve) (graph by author and M.