The first in-depth study of the field in more than 20 years analyzes the role of various metals in the context of Greek economic life, politics, culture and art, traces the movement of metal from ore to finished objects, including works of art, and shows the relations between the regions where metals were extracted and the centres of metalworking, the structure of the workshops and the connections between them and the role of the workshops in economic life at different stages in Greek history. In doing so it adopts a multidisciplinary approach, defining the role of metals in the history of Greek society using the widest possible variety of sources: the excavated remains of workshops and hoards, archaeometallurgical finds; the results of studies of ancient mines and analyses of ancient metal objects; bronze plastics and jewelry, coins etc. The chronological span of the study is the 8th-1st centuries B.C., i.e. from the beginning of the main period of Greek colonization till the end of the Hellenistic era. The geographical scope of the work is the Greek oikumene. New to most scholars will be Treister's knowledge of objects and technologies in the eastern Greek and Roman world of the Northern Black Sea and Colchis. While this book does not pretend to be a definitive survey of the history of mining and metallurgy in the Greek world, it is a particularly useful interim report.

This volume presents an attempt to argue the role of metals in the history of Greek society using the widest possible variety of sources: the evidence of ancient writers, epigraphical material and archaeological data: the excavated remains of workshops and hoards, archaeometallurgical finds; the results of studies of ancient mines and analyses of ancient metal objects: bronze plastics and jewelry articles, coins etc. The main task of this work is to analyse the role of various metals in the context of Greek economic life, politics, culture and art, to trace the movement of metal from ore to finished the objects, including works of art, to show the relations between the regions where metals were extracted and the centres of metalworking, the structure of the workshops and the connections between them and the role of the workshops in the economic life at the different stages in Greek history. The chronological frame of the study is the 8th-1st centuries BC, i.e. from the beginning of the Great period of Greek colonization till the end of the Hellenistic epoch. The geographical frame of the work is the Greek oikumere.

This book contains 23 studies on geology and mining in ancient Greece, the manufacture and metallurgy of ancient Greek coins and the analysis and conservation of these coins. The chapters collectively place numismatics within an interdisciplinary context.

Publisher Description

This book opens the world of the ancient Greeks to all readers through easily accessible entries on topics essential to understanding Greek high culture and daily life. The ancient Greeks provided the foundation for Western civilization. They made significant advances in science, mathematics, philosophy, literature, and government. While many readers might have heard of Plato and Aristotle, however, or be familiar with the classic works of Greek tragedy, most people know significantly less about daily life in the ancient Greek world. This encyclopedia opens the world of the ancient Greeks, spanning Greek history from the Bronze Age through Roman times, with an emphasis on the Classical and Hellenistic Eras. The encyclopedia provides roughly 270 easily accessible entries on topics essential to understanding everything from Greek high culture to daily life. These entries are grouped in topical sections on the arts, science and technology, politics and government, domestic life, and other subjects. Sidebars on particularly noteworthy people, places, and concepts provide related information, while primary documents allow readers to delve into the mindset and feelings of the ancient Greeks themselves. Extensive bibliographic references give curious readers direction for further research.

Discusses the people, places and events found in over 2,000 years of Greek civilization.

Trade, exchange and commerce touched the lives of everyone in antiquity, especially those who lived in urban areas. Trade, Traders and the Ancient City addresses the nature of exchange and commerce and the effects it had in cities throughout the ancient world, from the Bronze Age Near East to late Roman northern Italy. Trade, Traders and the Ancient City employs the most recent archaeological, papyrological, epigraphic and literary evidence to present an innovative and timely analysis of the importance and influence of trade in the ancient world.