The ancient Greek names “Magnesia” and “Magnetes” and their origin from the magnetite occurrences at the Mavrovouni mountain of Thessaly, central Greece. A mineralogical–geochemical approach

Abstract

Pliny the Elder (first century A.D.) mentioned that the Thessalian magnetite from Magnesia in ancient Greece was second in quality after the Ethiopic. This magnetite should be related with the origin of the Homeric Magnetes of the eighth century B.C. who lived around Ossa mountain in central Greece. A new euhedral magnetite occurrence derived from the Kampitsios area at the north-western slopes of Mavrovouni mountain in “Amyrikon Pedion”, probably shows that this region should have been connected with the origin of the Homeric Magnetes. The magnetites under study are found as porphyroblasts in the talc schists. They are almost pure with rare inclusions, mainly ilmenite, rutile, pseudorutile and a PbO phase. The alteration of magnetite to hematite is restricted only along the fissures and cracks as well as along the rims, forming very thin films of a few micrometres in thickness. Microprobe analyses showed that the magnetites are almost pure and they contain only traces of Cr₂O₃ (1.01–3.41%). The high-quality magnetites of Kampitsios could be probably related with those mentioned by Pliny, and they should be related with the origin of the Homeric Magnetes of the eighth century B.C. who lived around Ossa mountain in Thessaly.