Emery mine

Ever wondered how they got this marble statues so smooth? Emery, found in this area of Naxos did the trick. Emery was used in ancient times to polish the marble Cycladic figurines and to polish marble statues. Emery has a great abrasive characteristic. The Romans called it 'naxium' referring to the island of Naxos. Even now it is still used to create emery paper and emery disks to cut walls and smoothen surfaces.