New Approaches to the Characterization of Obsidian from the Mediterranean Island Sources: Interpreting Chronological Cha
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lino di Varese
Les Terres Blanches Gaione
San Polo Fornace Cappuccini
Arene Candide
Combes Ste. Catherine
Giribaldi La Cabre Lumaca Pietracorbara Strette Monte Grosso
Basi
Casa Querciolaia Paduletto di Castagneto Susac
Pianosa
La Marmotta
I Calanchi
Grotta Sa Corona
Santo Stefano Casale del Dolce Passo di Corvo
Grotta Filiestru
Palmarola
Molia Cuccuru s'Arriu
Mt. Arci
Su Carroppu
Acconia Grotta dell'Uzzo
Lipari Bova Marina
Zembra Pantelleria Skorba
250 Km
Figure 1. Central Mediterranean obsidian sources and Neolithic archaeological sites with ten or more analyzed obsidian artifacts. Reduction Modification
Production Use
Re-use
Deposition Acquisition (Extraction) Transport Exchange
Figure 2. The chain of events that may be represented by obsidian artifacts found at archaeological sites.
the establishment of an agricultural way of life, division of labor and craft specialization, and the emergence of increasingly complex societies. Obsidian provenance studies in the Mediterranean and Near East have a long history [2-4], but until recently the field investigation, detailed documentation, characterization analysis and publication of all of the obsidian sources was incomplete [5-6]. Significantly, the obsidian from each island has been treated by most archaeologists as deriving from a single source when in fact it occurs as multiple primary outcrops and secondary deposits. Furthermore, until a decade ago, very few provenience studies resulted in the analysis of ten or more obsidian artifacts from dated contexts at a single archaeological site [7-11], preventing the comparison of source exploitation patterns in a statistically meaningful way [12]. Early analyses of artifacts made of Sardinian obsidian suggested that multiple, chemically differentiable sources or flows exist on at least that island [3], and field and laboratory research by several teams has now resulted in the location and characterization of as many as nine chemically distinct obsidian source localities in the Monte Arci region, of which at least five were exploited in antiquity [6, 13-17]. Five chemical source groups have also been identified for Pantelleria [18]; obsidian occurs in two separate localities on Palmarola [19]; and multiple outcrops exist on Lipari as well [20]. A comprehensive geoarchaeological and geochemical investigation of these three islands has recently been undertaken by this author, and will result in a comprehensive detailed database for all central Mediterranean obsidian sources. This is critically necessary to support the emphasis of recent obsidian studies on using non- or minimally destructive techniques to analyze large numbers of artifacts or even entire assemblages from good archaeological contexts, and to attribute them to specific flows and outcrops [5, 21]. By doing so, it is possible to demonstrate real temporal and spatial patterns in source exploitation, and to postulate explanations for different patterns in terms of accessibility, quantity, quality, and appearance of the raw material, as w
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