Slavery and the Archaeological Record


Housed in a Mining Museum at the Technische Universität Freiberg Bergakademie in Germany.  © 2023 TU Freiberg. 

Description

Iron fetters from Kamariza, 4 km from the Athenian mining settlement Laurion. Human ankle bone is visibly attached to the left shackle. The shackles are visibly corroded, which results in rust and natural degradation over time. The precise date of the shackles is unknown, but the site was in use from the 4th to the 1st century BCE. 

This type of shackle is for the ankles, which would be connected by the straight bar. These would be connected to a central link with a chain. Its close connection to the Laurion settlement indicates that it was likely worn by an enslaved worker. 

While interesting as a symbol of enslaved labour in Greece, they remain our only surviving shackle from the Laurion mines. The lack of such archaeological evidence brings up significant questions about the gaps it leaves behind.

Context

The mines at Laurion were publicly owned and leased to wealthy individuals, some of whom had up to 1,000 enslaved workers (Xen. Ways 4.14). The work at these mines was both hazardous and unskilled, resulting in the mass hiring of enslaved labour. They were likely working in tandem with some men of free status or forced labourers. 

An enslaved labourer in the Lauron mines would have been working in shafts up to 100ft in depth, galleries which were several hundred metres long, and workshops where they would pound, wash, separate, and smelt ore. One of the steps, washing, was done by putting small granules into moving water (as depicted in the right image) to denote the quantity of the ore. Each step of the process was unique, but all were demanding on the labourer.

A large 5th century BCE cemetery from Lavreotiki (just outside Laurion) has an irregularly large amount of child burials (1 in 5). This made archaeologist Ian Morris posit that enslaved child labourers were utilized at Laurion to enter small shafts. It is possible that the children of the enslaved labourers were purchased alongside their parents for this reason. 

Such laborious, cramped, and dangerous work likely contributed to the mass self-emancipation of ~20,000 slaves during the Peloponnesian War (Thuc. 7.27). Many of these enslaved workers were thought to be labourers and artisans from Laurion.

It seems probable that the iron fetters from Kamariza were only used as punishment. This form of fettering was used commonly in manual labour to prevent escape. Fetters were likely not used regularly in mining activity since they would limit working capacity. We can imagine how uncomfortable and humiliating the fetters would have been to wear while working. 

Comparatively, we know that shackles were used in mining operations during the Roman period if a slave stole ore. It seems likely that these fetters would have been used for similar offences and would have been a severe reminder to other enslaved workers to not anger their overseer.

An imagining of Washery A at Laurion (Ellis Jones 1985). © Authors, the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies and the British School at Athens 1985.

Other material evidence for the existence of enslaved workers at Laurion include possible living quarters in the ore-separation complex. The ore-separation process was more intensive and skilled work, and likely required the workers to live on-site. Nearby mining sites in Greece indicate a steep difference in quality between quarters for enslaved and free workers. Otherwise, tools found in the mining shafts, such as picks, offer a small view into their difficult and claustrophobic work. 

Labourers at Laurion provided significant economic stimulation for the Athenian state, due to the insatiable demand for silver (Xen. Ways 4.11). Despite this, we lack basic information about their lives.

Such evidence brings up many questions about the individual who died wearing these iron fetters. 

We can only wonder about the specifics of their life and the psychological impacts such isolated and difficult work might have had on them. 

The iron fetters also show the difficulties in identifying enslaved individuals in the archaeological record. Attempts have been made in many different regions of Greek life, such as domestic, burial, public, and industrial (particularly by archaeologist Sarah Morris). However, such attempts are usually more of a search within existing gaps than evidence-based theories. However, new advances in bioarchaeology and increased survey work in rural areas may yet reveal new ways to identify enslaved individuals. This may lead to more artifacts, such as these fetters, that can increase our understanding of their lives and experiences. 

Further Reading

Ellis Jones, J. 1985. “Laurion: Agrileza 1977-83: Excavations at a Silver Mine Site.” Archaeological Reports 31:106-123.    


Morris, I. 1998. “Remaining Invisible: The Archaeology of the Excluded in Classical Athens.” In Women and Slaves in Greco-Roman Culture, edited by S.R. Joshel, and S. Murnaghan, 205-232. United States: Routledge.    


Morris, I. 2011. “Archaeology and Greek Slavery.” In The Cambridge World History of Slavery, edited by K. Bradley and P. Cartledge, 176-193. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.  


Morris, S. P. 2017. “Material Evidence: Looking for Slaves? The Archaeological Record: Greece.” In The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Slaveries, edited by S. Hodkinson, M. Kleijwegt and K. Vlassopoulos. Oxford: Oxford University Press.  


Photos-Jones, E., and J. Ellis Jones. 1994. “The Building and Industrial Remains at Agrileza, Laurion (Fourth Century BC) and Their Contribution to the Workings at the Site.” Annual of the British School at Athens 89: 307–358.  


Thompson, F. H. 2003. The Archaeology of Greek and Roman Slavery. London: Duckworth.  


Thompson, F.H. 1993. "Iron Age and Roman Slave-Shackles." Archaeological Journal 150: 57-168.