Laurium Silver Mines

The Athenian Greeks discovered a large vein of silver in a hilly area called Laurium near Athens around 500 B.C. The mining of this silver and making it into coins and other objects made Athens wealthy. At its peak Laurium consisted of more than 300 mines. There were thousands of miners, all of them slaves. The wealth produced by the silver allowed Athens to develop a wealthy upper class in which there were people who had the time to study, think, write, and develop many of the ideas which contributed to the origins of philosophy, art, and science which are still important today.
The picture you see here is a modern silver bracelet (not from Laurium). You can see more silver jewelry and other adornments at Beadshaper