PAROS I – Paria Lithos

The volume of Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on the Archaeology of Paros and the Cyclades entitled Paria Lithos- Parian Quarries, Marble and Workshops of Sculpture was published in 2000, edited by the late D. Schilardi and Dora Katsonopoulou, with the contribution of Stella Katsarou and Carla Brenner. A second edition was published in 2010. 63 scientific announcements are included in the volume, divided into 4 parts-thematic sections.

In Part 1, dedicated to the Quarries and Marble Workshops of Paros, 9 scientific papers are included that focus on the long use of the marble quarries of Paros during antiquity, starting from the 7th c. BC. For the first time, the open pit and underground quarries in Paros are presented here in detail. In the same section is included the first announcement of the results of the excavation of a sculpture workshop of the Classical and Hellenistic period within the boundaries of the ancient city of Paros.

In Part 2 entitled Paria Lithos and its Employment in Sculpture, Architecture and Epigraphy from Antiquity till the 19th c. AD, a detailed reference is made to the diachronic use of the Paria Lithos in sculpture, architecture and epigraphy from antiquity to the 19th century AD. In this section, which includes 21 articles, works of sculpture in Parian marble inside and outside Paros are presented, as well as new sculptures from Paros for the first time, such as the semi-worked torso of an athlete and a marble head from Naousa of Paros. New identifications of works crafted in Parian marble from the lychnites quarries of Paros in the Museum of Fine Arts and Stewart Gardner in Boston (Artemis Colonna and creeping Odysseus) are presented and discussed.

Part 3 entitled Export and Diffusion of the Paria Lithos is devoted to the export and dissemination of Parian marble, thus the 26 papers included in this section focus on commercial activity and the export of the Parian marble which was in high demand for architecture and sculpture throughout the ancient world. Among the rich material of the scientific announcements included in Part 3, are presented important works in Parian marble found in areas outside Paros such as Olympia, the islands of Euboea, Kea, Corfu, as well as faraway places such as Rome, Sicily, Caria, Lycia, Libya.

The last Part 4 of the volume dedicated to Identification and Conservation of Parian Marble includes 7 papers concerning the application of the natural sciences in terms of the study of the Parian marble and the identification of its origins in relation to marbles from other areas, such as the island of Naxos, Penteli in Attica, Thasos and Prokonnesos.