gems, archaeology, archaeogemology, ancient trade, commerce, mining, Rome, Roman era

Compiled by Andrew Wilson, with assistance from Dragana Mladenović, Kristina Glicksman, and Mariana Egri, this extensive bibliography brings together scholarship on ancient mining and metallurgy, complementing Wilson’s bibliography of Indo-Roman trade and providing a broad reference resource for the extractive industries that supplied ancient commerce. It covers general studies of mining, mining technology and administration, and individual commodities including gold, silver, lead, copper, iron, tin, and stone, with geographically organized sections on Italy, Gaul, Germany and Austria, the Iberian Peninsula, Britain, North Africa, the Balkans, Dacia, Greece, Asia Minor, the Near East, and Egypt. Particularly extensive coverage is devoted to Roman mining in Spain and Portugal, including gold mining, Rio Tinto, Las Médulas, drainage and hydraulic technology, metallurgy, administration, and the organization of mining districts. Of particular gemological interest are references to Roman and Byzantine emerald mining in Egypt and amethyst mining at Wadi el-Hudi, while the broader bibliography documents the mining, processing, administration, and distribution of mineral resources throughout the ancient Mediterranean world. Together with the Indo-Roman trade bibliography, it provides a substantial guide to literature concerning both the extraction of mineral resources and their movement through ancient regional and long-distance trading networks.