User:Lady Kyashira/Shadows Documentation

The Laurion Silver Mines

Opening RemarksLaurion Mines OverviewAn Antique MineExtracting the OreWasheriesSmelting and CupellationLaborClosing Remarks

• Aspasia: Welcome to the silver mines of Laurion.

("Who are you?")

("What do you think of this place?")

• Aspasia: The mines make me nervous. All those fumes can't be safe to inhale day in and day out.

("Let's begin the tour.")

• Aspasia: The Laurion silver mines were discovered between Thorikos and Cape Sounion near Athens. They were rich in mineral galena, and provided Athens with much of the silver necessary to mint its currency. Because of this, the mines were invaluable to the city, and the resources they provided helped turn Athens into one of the most powerful states in Greece. We will meet again after you've seen what the mines have to offer. Farewell for now, wandered.

• Narrator: Silver mines were extremely rare in Ancient Greece, which only increased their importance. Athens started exploiting the Laurion silver mines at the end of the 6th century BCE, and used its metal to produce its currency.
  Production at the mines exploded around 485 BCE, when an especially rich vein was discovered. The mines' abundant silver made Athens one of the weathliest cities in Greece. They also provided the resources necessary to build a fleet large enough to defeat the Persians at the Battle of Salamis.
  In short, the Laurion mines played an integral part in the emergence of Athens as a Greek superpower.

Learn more:
Athens's coinage dates back to around 530 BCE. The abundant resources from the Laurion mines allowed the city to mint a prolific coinage renowned for the quality of its silver. Like modern currency, Athens's coins had different values and weighs. The most-struck denomination was the tetradrachm, which weighed 17.20m grams. The coin, as its name implies, was worth four (tetras) drachmae. The smallest coins - and the ones most commonly used in the agora - were the triobol (2.15g), the obol (0.72g), and hemiobol (0.369).

• Narrator: Exploiting the mines' resources required a lot of labor. To meet this requirement and save on cost, Athens leased out mining concessions to its citizens, who had their slaves to do most of the work, alongside poor day-laborers.
  In the 5th century BCE alone, there were anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 people toiling in the mines of Laurion. Together, the workers managed to produce an estimated twenty tons of silver per year.

Learn more:
Ancient Greeks extracted a number of different metals like gold, silver, copper, tin, lead, iron, and mercury. The most precious metals, silver and gold, were appreciated for their quality and rarity. They were used to produce coins, but also jewelry, other luxury objects, and even statues like the gold and ivory statue of Athena Parthenos. Most metals were traded in the form of ingots.

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("I'm ready for the quiz.") ("Take on the next suggested tour.") ("Take me on a random tour.") ([LEAVE] "That's all for now.")