| Silver is a precious metal that has been used | | | | exploitation of Spanish silver. After the |
| by humans since the dawn of civilization. In | | | | Punic Wars, the Romans replaced the |
| this first part of a two part series we will | | | | Carthaginians as the exploiters of Spanish |
| look at the early history of silver. | | | | silver and extended their silver mining to |
| | | | other areas of continental Europe. |
| Old World Silver (4000 BC - 1500 AD) | | | | |
| | | | Spanish mines were a critically important |
| The area of Anatolia (modern Turkey) is | | | | source of silver for nearly 1,000 years, |
| considered the first major source of mined | | | | though their exploitation was halted |
| silver. It provided the resource to | | | | temporarily by the Moorish conquest of Spain |
| craftsman throughout Asia Minor. Silver | | | | in the 8th century A.D. |
| from the Anatolian region largely served as | | | | |
| the silver source for the Western cultures | | | | Spanish mines not only provided a substantial |
| flourishing in the Near East, Crete, and | | | | portion of domestic needs of the Roman Empire |
| Greece. | | | | until 476 A.D. They also served as a critical |
| | | | source of silver for the Asian spice trade. |
| Silver craftsmanship was centered largely in | | | | To meet the burgeoning trading requirements, |
| Asia Minor and Greek Islands, along with | | | | Greece, Asia Minor, and Italy supplemented |
| areas of mainland Greece dominated by the | | | | the Spanish production. |
| Mycenaean culture. | | | | |
| | | | The Moorish invasion of Spain necessitated |
| Asia Minor provided most of the supply for | | | | that the exploitation of silver move to a |
| the flourishing silver market. | | | | broader spectrum of countries, principally in |
| | | | Central Europe. Several major silver mine |
| A concentrated effort to mine silver began | | | | discoveries were made between 750 and 1200 |
| sometime after 3000 B.C. | | | | A.D., including the classic Schemnitz, |
| | | | Rammelsburg, Goslar, and Saxony regions in |
| The first sophisticated processing of silver | | | | Germany. Discoveries of silver were also made |
| ore was attributed to the Chaldeans in about | | | | in Austria-Hungary and elsewhere in Eastern |
| 2500 | | | | Europe. |
| | | | |
| B.C., who used a "cupellation" process to | | | | Although mine production in Spain dominated |
| extract silver from lead-silver ores. | | | | the first 1,000 years A.D., it was balanced |
| | | | by the decline in production at Laurium and |
| The need for traditional silver resulted in | | | | Asia Minor. The real expansion in production |
| the location and exploitation of silver | | | | occurred in the 500-year period from |
| deposits in what is now Armenia.
After | | | | 1000-1500 A.D., when the number of mining |
| the catastrophic destruction of the Minoan | | | | locations and, to a lesser extent, the |
| (Cretan) civilization in 1600 B.C. and the | | | | improvements in mining and processing |
| decline of the Mycenaean culture around 1200 | | | | technology occurred. |
| B.C., the focus of silver production changed. | | | | |
| | | | A major area of silver production was the |
| The mines of Laurium (near Athens) became the | | | | discovery of the New World in 1492, after |
| leading production center and provided silver | | | | which time major silver mines in Mexico, |
| for the burgeoning Greek civilization. The | | | | Bolivia, and Peru were opened, leading to a |
| silver trade throughout Asia Minor and North | | | | rapid rise in the annual world production of |
| Africa expanded significantly after the 8th | | | | silver. |
| century B.C.
The Laurium | | | | |
| mines were highly productive; estimates from | | | | This rise, coupled with improved techniques |
| historical writings and physical evidence | | | | for extracting silver from ore, broadened |
| from old mine dumps indicate silver | | | | both the quality and quantity of ore that |
| production to have been about 1 million troy | | | | could be exploited. Later improvements, |
| ounces per year at Laurium during the height | | | | particularly in the late 19th and early 20th |
| if production (600 B.C. to 300 B.C.). | | | | centuries, vastly enhanced the base of silver |
| | | | production and accelerated the exploitation |
| For about 1,000 years ending around the 1st | | | | of silver as a byproduct of base-metal |
| century A.D., the Laurium mines were the | | | | mining. |
| largest individual source of world silver | | | | |
| production. Outside the Laurium mines, | | | | Only about 25 percent of cumulative world |
| production was concentrated mainly in Asia | | | | silver production occurred before the 1770s. |
| Minor, Sardinia, other Grecian locations | | | | |
| and, to a limited extent, in Asia. | | | | In the next article we will look at New World |
| | | | production of silver and its role in the |
| The period following the heyday of Greek | | | | silver industry. |
| mining in Laurium included the Carthaginians' | | | | |