ancientart: The ancient Aliki quarry at Thasos. Though a Greek island in the northern
ancientart: The ancient Aliki quarry at Thasos. Though a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea, the area was once geographically part of Macedonia. An impressive ancient quarry partially submerged in the sea: The Aliki quarry on the southern shores of the island of Thassos (Greece) symbolises ancient stone work and trade, with the Mediterranean as the connecting link since time immemorial. It also symbolises how quarrying may shape the landscape over the centuries. A coarse-grained, white calcitic marble, Aliki was a highly prized stone in Antiquity, exported throughout the Eastern Mediterranean to places such as Thessalonica, Delphi, Ostia, Rome, Ephesos, Antioch and Cyrenaica. Extraction may have started in the 6th Century BC, and it ceased more than a thousand years later in the early 7th Century, perhaps due to an earthquake. The ancient quarrying techniques are well displayed by the bay of Aliki and the nearby shorelines of the island, and the quarries are easily accessible for tourists. (quarryscapes) On a closer observation, Roman wedge holes as well as marks from picks and chisels can still be seen. Photos courtesy & taken by Joanna Papanikolaou. -- source link
#ancient#macedonian#history#archaeology#macedonia