THE EXTRACTION OF TRAVERTINE IN ANTIQUITY ON THE ISLAND OF COS, DODECANESE, GREECE

Abstract

The use of travertine-known to the locals as 'amygdalopetra' (=almond stone) for its color-in coan architecture of classical antiquity and Italian buildings of the last century initiated a multidisciplinary research on its provenance.After a thorough geological survey of the Pliocene marine and lake deposits on the island, several positions of travertine formations were revealed.

However, it was only near the town of Pyli, 21km west of the city of Cos, that evidence of systematic travertine extraction was confirmed. The site was not mentioned in any ancient or modern literary source, with the exception of an early 20th century scholar, I. Zarraftis. Following his footsteps, we came across an area of rocky cliffs, one of which was a definite quarry. The place was hardly accessible due to dense vegetation and a military camp situated right on top of it Nevertheless, the ground survey brought to light serious archaeological evidence such as: ancient cutting marks, a sledge path, large blocks of rock and pilled-up worked stones. The extracted stone was of high quality, thus justifying the selection of that location. Furthermore, at the very top of the quarry hill, were the remains of a small building of uncertain date (a probable guard-place).

According to the toolmarks, the Pyli quarry was active in the classical and hellenistic periods Afterwards, it fell into oblivion, since marble extracted largely in Roman and Byzantine erae from Mt.Dikaios substituted travertine It was only until the first half of the 20th century A.D. that it became popular once again, as the ltalian architecture of Cos vividly shows. An important witness of modern-time exploitation is an iron wedge found in situ. Moreover, on the neighboring hill took place an extensive modern extraction ofa poor quality ally rock, which caused the leveling ofits top surface. It was only at the bottom of this hill where evidence from earlier quarrying stil survives.