The “Zafeiris Vaos Obsidian Collection” permanent exhibition was officially unveiled

On 3 September 2011, the permanent exhibition of the obsidian collection created by Zafeiris Vaos (1905-2003), a prominent collector and folklore specialist from Milos, was officially unveiled in the Milos Mining Museum (MMM). The event started in the George Eliopoulos – Milos Conference Center, with opening speeches by Gerassimos Damoulakis, mayor of Milos, Nicole Kyriacopoulos, member of the Management Committee of the MMM, and Antonis Z. Vaos, artist and associate professor at the University of Patras. Representatives of the local authorities and members of the local community were present, while journalists from both regional and national newspapers covered the event. The guests then moved to the Milos Mining Museum where a guided tour was conducted by Antikleia Agrafioti, associate professor of Prehistoric Archeology at the University of Thessaly and the exhibition’s scientific consultant.

The collector, Zafeiris Vaos, started collecting obsidian artifacts in 1959, following an official pronouncement and a relevant permit by the Archeological Council. The collection includes objects made of obsidian found in various sites on the island of Milos; obsidian, a naturally occurring volcanic glass that is a characteristic rock of Milos, played a significant role in the island’s economy in prehistoric times and forms a very important chapter in the archeology of early Aegean tool-making. The collection includes numerous representative artifacts from obsidian quarries in various areas on Milos (such as Nychia and Demenegaki), that were the main source of obsidian for all the settlements around the Aegean during seven millennia, as well as representative styles of the various stone-processing techniques used in the prehistoric Aegean sites. After the collector passed away, the Kyriacopoulos family bought the collection, following an approval by the Ministry of Culture, and subsequently donated it to the MMM, thus safeguarding its return to its place of origin, in accordance with the wishes of both the local community and the late collector.

The scientific consultant and coordinator was Antikleia Agrafioti, leading a team of experts, while the architect Despoina Tsafou,conducted the architectural & museographic design of the exhibition. Both the permanent exhibition and the official inauguration event were sponsored by S&B Industrial Minerals S.A.