Metallurgy is considered to have played an important role in the development of Aegean societies, linked to economic development and social stratification. The deposits or metal-bearing indications that appear to have been exploited since the Early Bronze Age (3000 BC) are found in the Cyclades (Andros, Paros, Kythnos, Siphnos, Seriphos and elsewhere), and in Lavrio in Attica. In the case of Lavrio and Siphnos, they include, in addition to copper, silver and lead.
Siphnos is one of the metal-bearing islands of the Cyclades and provides evidence of exploitation and on-site production of metals from prehistoric times up to the 19th/20th centuries. In the 1970s, a program of systematic archaeometallurgical research was initiated on Siphnos by the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg, which overturned the previous perception that only iron was mined in the area. It highlighted two main metal-bearing zones on the island (Wagner and Weisgerber 1985). The first covers an area from the northeast to the southwest of the island (Aghios Sostis, Aghios Silvestros, Voreini, Kapsalos and Xeroxylo) and includes deposits of silver-lead ore. The second zone, on the southeastern coast (Aghios Ioannis, Apokofto, Aspros Pyrgos) contains deposits or occurrences of gold. In or near most of the mines – to that point, considered to be associated with modern iron mining activities of the 19th/20th centuries – were identified ancient galleries, mine shafts, ventilation ducts, lamps, marks of ancient mining tools, mining waste, burnt slag, etc.
The Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades participates as a partner together with the NCSR Demokritos and the University of Cyprus together with the Municipality of Siphnos and the Community of Asgata participating in the international and co-financed cooperative program ‘Interreg GREECE CYPRUS’ with the title METAL PLACES for the promotion of the sites of the mines.
