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A map of the Monte Arci (Sardinia Island, Western Mediterranean) obsidian primary to secondary sources. Implications for Neolithic provenance studies

Carlo LUGLIÈ, François-Xavier LE BOURDONNEC, Gérard POUPEAU, Marcel BOHN, Sandro MELONI, Massimo ODDONE & Giuseppa TANDA

en Comptes Rendus Palevol 5 (8) - Pages 995-1003

Published on 31 December 2006

Four types of obsidians from the Monte Arci volcanic complex (Sardinia) were used by Neolithic men in the North Tyrrhenian area of the western Mediterranean. A map of their occurrences from primary sources (mother rocks) to distant secondary deposits in the surrounding plains is presented. Some 1457 specimens were macroscopically characterized and in addition ~15% of them fingerprinted from their elemental compositions as determined by electron microprobe, neutron activation analysis or ion beam analysis. The results show that secondary sources, up to now largely neglected in provenance studies of ‘archaeological’ obsidians will have from now to be taken into account. .


Keywords:

Obsidian, Monte Arci, Sardinia, provenance studies

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