Tin Islands

• The Greeks knew of a group of islands off the Atlantic Coast of Iberia, and called them the ‘Cassiterides’ meaning the Tin Islands.
• Kassiteros is Greek for Tin. It is assumed that they meant Britannia and its tin mines in Cornwall.

History

• Diodorus Siculus, writing between 60-30 BCE, described the islands of Ictis and Mictis in Britannia, as the centre of the Ancient Tin Trade.

Ictis and Mictis

• Possible locations for Ictis and Mictis are the Scilly Isles, St. Michael's Mount, Looe Island, Burgh Island, Isle of Portland and the Isle of Wight.

St. Michael’s Mount