Thasos or
Thassos (
Greek: Θάσος) is a
Greek island in the northern
Aegean Sea, close to the coast of
Thrace and the plain of the river Nestos but geographically part of
Macedonia. It is the northernmost Greek island, and 12th largest by area. Thasos is also the name of the largest town of the island (also known as
Limenas Thasou, "
Harbour of Thasos"), situated at the northern side, opposite the mainland and about
10 kilometres (6 mi) from Keramoti.
Lying close to the coast of
Eastern Macedonia, Thasos was inhabited from the Palaeolithic period onwards,[1] but the earliest settlement to have been explored in detail is that at Limenaria, where remains from the
Middle and
Late Neolithic relate closely to those found at the mainland's
Drama plain. In contrast,
Early Bronze Age remains on the island align it with the
Aegean culture of the
Cyclades and
Sporades, to the south; at
Skala Sotiros[2] for example, a small settlement was encircled by a strongly built defensive wall. Even earlier activity is demonstrated by the presence of large pieces of 'megalithic' anthropomorphic stelai built into these walls, which, so far, have no parallels in the
Aegean area.
There is then a gap in the archaeological record until the end of the
Bronze Age c 1100 BC, when the first burials took place at the large cemetery of Kastri in the interior of the island.[
3][4] Here built tombs covered with small mound of earth were typical until the end of the
Iron Age. In the earliest tombs were a small number of locally imitated
Mycenaean pottery vessels, but the majority of the hand-made pottery with incised decoration reflects connections eastwards with Thrace and beyond.
By far the most important economic activity is tourism. The main agricultural products on the island are honey, almonds, olives (famously Throuba olives) and olive oil, as well as wine, sheep, goat herding and fishing. Other industries are lumber and mining which includes lead, zinc and marble, especially in the Panagia area where one of the mountains near the
Thracian Sea has a large marble quarry. The marble quarries in the south (in the area of Aliki), now abandoned, were mined during ancient times.
- published: 25 Jul 2014
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