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Old World
Silver (4000 BC -
1500 AD)
The area of Anatolia (modern Turkey) is considered the
first major source of mined silver, having provided the
resource to craftsman throughout Asia Minor. Silver from
the Anatolian region largely served as the source of
silver for the Western cultures flourishing in the Near
East, Crete, and Greece.
Silver craftsmanship was centered largely in Asia Minor
and Greek Islands, along with areas of mainland Greece
dominated by the Mycenaean culture. Asia Minor provided
most of the supply for the flourishing silver market.
A concentrated effort to mine silver began sometime
after 3000 B.C. The first sophisticated processing of
silver ore was attributed to the Chaldeans in about 2500
B.C., who used a "cupellation" process to extract silver
from lead-silver ores. The need for traditional silver
(particularly for the flourishing Minoan and later
Mycenaean civilizations) resulted in the location and
exploitation of silver deposits in what is now Armenia
After the catastrophic destruction of the Minoan
(Cretan) civilization in 1600 B.C. and the decline of
the Mycenaean culture around 1200 B.C., the focus of
silver production changed. The mines of Laurium (near
Athens) became the leading production center and
provided silver for the burgeoning Greek civilization.
Further, the silver trade throughout Asia Minor and
North Africa expanded significantly after the 8th
century B.C.
The Laurium mines were highly productive; estimates from
historical writings and physical evidence from old mine
dumps indicate silver production to have been about 1
million troy ounces per year at Laurium during the
height if production (600 B.C. to 300 B.C.). In fact,
for about 1,000 years ending around the 1st century
A.D., the Laurium mines were the largest individual
source of world silver production. Outside the Laurium
mines, production was concentrated mainly in Asia Minor,
Sardinia, other Grecian locations and, to a limited
extent, in Asia.
The period following the heyday of Greek mining in
Laurium included the Carthaginians' exploitation of
Spanish silver. After the Punic Wars, the Romans
replaced the Carthaginians as the exploiters of Spanish
silver and extended their silver mining to other areas
of continental Europe.
Spanish mines became a critically important source of
silver for nearly 1,000 years, thought their
exploitation was halted temporarily by the Moorish
conquest of Spain in the 8th century A.D. The Spanish
mines not only provided a substantial portion of
domestic needs of the Roman Empire until 476 A.D. but
also served as a critical source of silver for the Asian
spice trade. To meet the burgeoning trading
requirements, Greece, Asia Minor, and Italy supplemented
the Spanish production.
The Moorish invasion of Spain necessitated that the
exploitation of silver move to a broader spectrum of
countries, principally in Central Europe. Several major
silver mine discoveries occurred between 750 and 1200
A.D., including the classic Schemnitz, Rammelsburg,
Goslar, and Saxony regions in Germany. Concurrently,
discoveries of silver were made in Austria-Hungary and
elsewhere in Eastern Europe.
Based on the analysis of available literature and
historical records, the production levels from 300 B.C.
to 1000 A.D. are not likely to have risen significantly
from the estimated 1.5 million troy ounces per year
levels of the Laurium mine era. Although mine production
in Spain dominated the first 1,000 years A.D., it was
balanced by the decline in production at Laurium and
Asia Minor. The real expansion in production occurred in
the 500-year period from 1000-1500 A.D., when the number
of mining locations and, to a lesser extent, the
improvements in mining and processing technology
occurred.
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The above information has been sited from The Silver
Institute; please visit
www.silverinstitute.org to know more about
silver. The Silver Institute is a nonprofit
international association that draws its membership from
across the breadth of the silver industry. This includes
leading silver mining houses, refiners, bullion
suppliers, and manufacturers of silver products and
wholesalers of silver investment products. Established
in 1971, the Institute serves as the industry's voice in
increasing public understanding of the many uses and
values of silver. |
