http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0857-2807
![Sample our Humanities journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5939/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Humanities.jpg"})
Abstract
This article examines the origins of the European scientific, technical and economic interest in the volcanic tephra of the islands of Santorini and Therasia as a building material in harbour and coastal projects. The research (a) brings new data on the discovery and early use of Theran earth at a point earlier in the nineteenth century than was previously known; and (b) explains the transition from the general references to Santorini’s volcanic ash by European travellers (in the eighteenth century) to the most detailed scientific and technical descriptions of the chemical properties of the ash made by the German and Austrian geologists and engineers (by the mid-nineteenth century). The role of experts was crucial in the discovery and exploitation of Theran earth. While the scientific research of European and Greek specialists was reliant on the state powers of the day, it also entertained close bonds with the entrepreneurial and technical networks that commanded the exploitation of the mineral resources of the Mediterranean. New forms of expertise and communication among experts, competition and scientific exchanges set in motion innovative channels for the movement of material resources around the Mediterranean, triggered by burgeoning industrialization in Europe and beyond. Many actors at a local, national and transnational level (such as geologists, engineers, state employees and merchants) were involved in multiple technical and entrepreneurial networks for the trading and appropriation of Theran earth for use in the harbour and construction projects under way all around the Mediterranean.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank Christina Agriantoni, Dimitris Dimitropoulos, Anna Mahera and the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. The author also wishes to thank the National Historical Museum in Athens and the curator Philippos Mazarakis-Ainian for their kind permission to publish the drawing by the architect Wilhelm von Weiler.
Notes
1. Kordellas, Η Ελλάς εξεταζομένη γεωλογικώς [Greece examined from a geological viewpoint], 57–8, 61–3; Kordellas, Ο μεταλλευτικός πλούτος [Mineral wealth], 100–1.
2. Koumanoudis, “Περίγραμμα δημώδους θηραϊκής αρχιτεκτονικής” [An outline of the vernacular architecture of Thera].
3. For the geological phenomena of the modern era, the eruption of the volcano of Santorini in 1866 is a chronological landmark of distinct importance, given the discovery in that same year of the prehistoric structure of Therasia. However, in the history of economic processes, techniques and exchange, the interest in the volcanic tephra – Theran earth – clearly pre-dates the decade of the 1860s.
4. Expédition Scientifique de Morée, v. II.
5. Bourguet et al., L’invention scientifique; Bourguet et al., Enquêtes en Méditerranée; Académie des Sciences, L’expédition d’Égypte; Bourguet and Lepetit, “Remarques sur les images”; Lepetit, “Missions scientifiques et expéditions militaires”.
6. Sinarellis, “La géologie”, 131–9.
7. Papastefanaki, Η φλέβα της γης, 31–2.
8. Laudan, “The History of Geology”, 324–5; Papastefanaki, “Mining Engineers, Industrial Modernisation and Politics”, 73–6; Bertilorenzi et al., Entre technique et gestions.
9. For a bibliographical review, see Borutta and Lemmes, “Die Wiederkehr des Mittelmeerraumes”; Seirinidou, “Πέρα από τη θάλασσα”.
10. Shavit, “The Mediterranean World”; Shavit, “Mediterranean History”.
11. Bourguet et al., L’invention scientifique; Bourguet et al., Enquêtes en Méditerranée; Yossi Ben-Artzi, “The Idea of Mediterranean Region”.
12. Borutta and Gekas, “A Colonial Sea”.
13. McNeill and Winiwarter, “Soils, Soil Knowledge and Environmental History”, 2–3.
14. McNeill, The Mountains of the Mediterranean.
15. Janssen et al., “Changing Industrial Metabolism”.
16. Vérin, La gloire des ingénieurs; Chatzis and Nicolaïdis, Science, Technology and the Nineteenth Century State; Ash, “Introduction: Expertise and the Early Modern State”.
17. Thévenot, Voyages en Europe, 333–9; Tournefort, Relation d’un voyage, 261–74; Tournefort, Ταξίδι στην Κρήτη, 289–302; Choiseul-Gouffier, Voyage pittoresque, 21–34; Olivier, Voyage dans l'empire, 233–64. For the sources on the geology and archaeology of Santorini, see Hiller von Gaertringen, Thera, 1–35. For the geological phenomena, see the study by the geologist Ferdinand Fouqué, Santorin et ses éruptions.
18. Tournefort, Ταξίδι, 289.
19. Ibid., 293–4.
20. Tournefort, Ταξίδι, 299; Thévenot, Voyages, 333–4; Choiseul-Gouffier, Voyage, 36; Olivier, Voyage, ΙΙ, 258, 261–2.
21. Olivier, Voyage, ΙΙ, 233–64. On Olivier, see Bernard, “Le voyage”.
22. Olivier, Voyage, IV, 3.
23. Shaw, “Ottoman Navy”, 222–6; Yildirim and Őzveren, “An Outline of Ottoman Maritime”, 162–3, 165–6; Bostan, “Imperial Arsenal”, 142–5; Panzac, La marine ottoman, 224–31.
24. Olivier, Voyage, IV, 3–5.
25. Ibid., 16–19.
26. Ibid., 18.
27. On special taxes (avariz) or the duty of Christian populations to supply services to the Porte, see Asdrachas, “Οι πολιτικοί όροι του οικονομικού,” 257–60, and Asdrachas, “Η κατανομή και σύνθεση της βιοτεχνίας”, 362–7.
28. Tournefort, Ταξίδι, 178, 189; Liata, Η Σέριφος, 165.
29. Expédition Scientifique de Morée, II, 258–86.
30. Ibid., 265.
31. Tzachili, Οι αρχές, 32–6.
32. Papastefanaki, “Οικονομικές και κοινωνικές μεταβολές”, 37–8.
33. “We agree to collect by the administration of the customs the right to six cents for every quantity of 20–25 okas of the earth mined by private individuals from state properties and shipped as an export and four cents when shipped for domestic use. Whatever sand is transported for use in public buildings does not enjoy any right.” Government Gazette 18, Royal Decree “concerning the sands found on the island of Thera, that is, Portzilana”, June 25, 1836.
34. Lidorikis, Στατιστικαί πληροφορίαι, 7.
35. Ross, Reisen, ix, 56–7. On Ludwig Ross in Thera, see Tzachili, Οι αρχές, 36–8.
36. Von Gümbel, “Karl Gustav Fiedler”; Papastefanaki, Η φλέβα, 33–4.
37. Fiedler, Reise durch alle Theile, viii, ix.
38. Ibid., 453–509.
39. Ibid., 549, 574–5.
40. Ibid., 474–82, 490–2.
41. Ibid., 552–4.
42. Jontes and Müller, “Josef von Russegger”, 334–5; Tafla, Ethiopia and Austria, 265; Papastefanaki, Η φλέβα, 33, 35; Papastefanaki, “Οικονομικές κοινωνικές μεταβολές”, 39; Belavilas, Fragiskos and Papastefanaki, “Μήλος”, 117.
43. Russegger, Reisen, I, 83, 88.
44. Russegger, Reisen, ΙV, 208.
45. Drakakis, Ιστορία του οικισμού Ερμουπόλεως, 219–20; Travlos and Kokkou, Ερμούπολη, 65, 74–5; Agriantoni and Fenerli, Ερμούπολη-Σύρος, 31–5. On the Corps of Engineers in the Greek state, see Antoniou and Assimakopoulos, “Notes on the Genesis of the Greek Engineer”, 115–16; Chatzis, “Des ingénieurs militaires”, 70–5.
46. Ross, Reisen, 57; Abbé Pègues, Histoire et phénomènes du Volcan, 270.
47. Pückler Muskau, Der Vorläufer, 273. Johannes Erlacher also designed the sea wall of the port of Piraeus in 1836, but refused to work on designing the port of Patras. Travlos and Kokkou, Ερμούπολη, 74.
48. Körber, “Neue Hafenbauten in Algier”, 357–72; Körber, “Über den Gebrauch der Santorinerde”, 266–8.
49. Fiedler, Reise, 574, 481–2; Ross, Reisen, 57.
50. The projects of Heraklion concerned repair of a Venetian port and the construction of a lighthouse (whose date of completion is unknown). Pückler Muskau, Der Vorläufer, 378.
51. Picon, “L’Orient saint-simonien”, 234–5; Picon, Οι σαινσιμονιστές, 141–3. For a detailed review of the projects on territory planning in Egypt before the creation of Suez canal, see Michel, “La Compagnie du canal de Suez et l’eau du Nil”, 274–7; Ghislaine Alleaume, “De la marche à la frontière”, 252–5.
52. Linant de Bellefonds, Mémoires, 438.
53. “Die Insel Santorin im griechischen Archipelagos und die in Triest und Venedig aus Santorin-Sackmauerwerk ausgeführten Baulichkeiten”, Allgemeine Bauzeitung, 1848, 53–65; Prucha, “On the Use of Santorin Earth”, 291–5.
54. Moreover, 6,000 tons of Theran earth were transported each year by ships from Santorini to Greek ports like Ermoupolis and Piraeus, where harbour constructions were under way. Sinarellis, Δρόμοι και λιμάνια, 154.
55. Heider, Der Bau des vereinigten Slip- und Trocken-Dock's im neuen Arsenale.
56. Ibid., 8–9.
57. Papanikolaou Christensen, Χριστιανός Χάνσεν, 9–15; Arkitekten Christian Hansen, 33; Cholevas, Ο Χάνσεν στην Τεργέστη.
58. Hansen, “Das Arsenal des österreichischen Lloyd in Triest”, 422–6.
59. De Cigallas, “Περί θηραϊκής γης (άσπας)”, 547–50.
60. [Heider], Πραγματεία περί Θηραϊκής γης.
61. Papastefanaki, Η φλέβα της γης, 46–7, 152–3, 165–6; Antoniou and Assimakopoulos, “Notes on the Genesis of the Greek Engineer”, 118; Tzachili, Οι αρχές, 47.
62. Vouyoukas, Σύντομος περιγραφή των ορυκτών.
63. Ibid., 34.
64. Besides the Greek translation by P. Vouyoukas in 1858, a French translation was published in 1859 by the Greek Government: De la terre de Santorin de ses propriétés et de son emploi pour les constructions hydrauliques. Extrait et traduit de l'ouvrage intitulé Der Bau des Vereinigten Slip-und trocken-Dock's im neuen Arsenale des österreichischen Lloyd in Triest: Ein Beitrag über die Verwendung der Santorin-Erde zu Wasserbauten von Edouard J. Heider, Athens 1859.
65. Theran earth was amongst the minerals on display at the Paris International Exhibition of 1855 and 1878 and the Vienna International Exhibition of 1873. See Exposition Universelle 1855; Περιληπτική περιγραφή … Βιέννης 1873; Exposition Universelle de Paris 1878, Grèce.
66. Kordellas, Η Ελλάς.
67. Περιληπτική περιγραφή … Βιέννης.
68. Kordellas, Η Ελλάς, 174–5.
69. On the use of diverse kinds of building materials in the construction of Suez Canal, see Montel, Le chantier du Canal de Suez, 241–5.
70. Prucha, “On the Use of Santorin Earth”, 291–5.
71. The years of greatest mine production were 1898 (70,700 tons) and 1901 (80,169 tons); Kordellas, Ο μεταλλευτικός πλούτος, 100–1; Angelopoulos, “Αι λιθόδμητοι δεξαμεναί Πειραιώς”; Gounaris, Η εκμετάλλευσις των μεταλλείων, 94.
72. Αρχιμήδης 6 (1900), 102 and Αρχιμήδης 7 (1901), 105.
73. Kordellas, “Περί θηραϊκής γης”, 116–8; Zizilas, “Περί θηραϊκής γης”, 118–23.
74. Kordellas, “Περί θηραϊκής γης”, 116.
75. Vournazos, Η θηραϊκή γη; Ginis, Η θηραϊκή γη.
76. Zizilas, “Περί θηραϊκής γης”, 118–23. See also the intervention by the head of the Directorate of Technical Services of the Piraeus Municipality, Em. Papakonstantinou Αρχιμήδης (1906), 123–5.
77. Tzachili, Οι αρχές, 46, 111.
78. Περιληπτική περιγραφή … Βιέννης.
79. Kordellas, “Περί οψιανού, θηραϊκής γης”, 51.
80. Kordellas, Μεταλλευτικός, 100; Koutsoyannopoulos, “Τα ορυχεία θηραϊκής γης”, 220–1; Leivadaros, “Τα ορυχεία θηραϊκής γης”, 471–4; Leivadaros, “Η ιστορική διαδρομή, η εκμετάλλευση”, 115–27.
81. Gounaris, Η εκμετάλλευσις, 94.
82. The first cement manufacturer in Greece, “Hatzikyriakos, Zachariou and Co.”, was founded in 1902 in Elefsina and was renamed “Titan Cement S.A.” in 1911. In 1907, the country’s second cement manufacturer was founded, “Zavoyannis, Zamanos and Co.”, which evolved into the “Heracles Anonymous General Cement Company” in 1911. Both companies promoted construction with reinforced concrete through construction firms, and collaborated with other manufacturers of building materials that involved cement. From 1902 “Hatzikyriakos, Zachariou and Co.” collaborated with the technical firm of Elias Angelopoulos, who introduced reinforced concrete into Greece. Agriantoni, “Βιομηχανία”, 188–9.
83. “Atlas S.A.”, founded in 1911, had a mine on Fira, while the factory for working Theran earth, producing bricks and mortar, was in Athens. The factory’s output in 1921 reached 60,000 bricks of Theran earth daily. The Hephaistos Anonymous Metallurgical and Industrial Company, founded in 1904, was limited until 1924 to the leasing of Theran earth mines on Therasia. It expanded into the establishment of a mine for working Theran earth (drying and milling) at Fira in 1927. The factory operated in 1929 producing “powdered” Theran earth, that is, finely ground material, suitable for the making of hydraulic mortars, able to partially replace cement in ordinary mortar. At the same time, the company continued to mine Theran earth, part of which it processed industrially, while the rest was sent to market. Doanidis, Το άλευρον θηραϊκής γης; Belavilas, Fragiskos and Papastefanaki, “Θήρα”, 157–61.
84. Tzachili, Οι αρχές, 46; Belavilas, Fragiskos and Papastefanaki, “Θήρα”, 154–63.