Recent Italian Obsidian Analyses

Randle, K.; Barfield, Lawrence; Bagolini, Bernardino

doi:10.1006/jasc.1993.1031

Cited by 21 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Experimental research demonstrated that all four sources could be differentiated based on their trace element composition (Cann & Renfrew, 1964;Belluomini & Taddeucci, 1971;Hallam, Warren & Renfrew, 1976) and neutron activation analysis (NAA) or X-ray fluorescence (XRF) has been used since in many western Mediterranean obsidian provenance studies (Williams-Thorpe, Warren & Barfield, 1979;Williams-Thorpe, Warren & Courtin, 1984;Crummett & Warren, 1985;Bigazzi et al, 1986Bigazzi et al, , 1992Francaviglia & Piperno, 1987;Ammerman et al, 1990;Ammerman & Polglase, 1993, 1997Randle, Barfield & Bagolini, 1993;Crisci et al, 1994).…”

mentioning

confidence: 98%

Characterization of the Monte Arci (Sardinia) Obsidian Sources

Tykot

1997

Journal of Archaeological Science

102

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

mentioning

confidence: 98%

Characterization of the Monte Arci (Sardinia) Obsidian Sources

Tykot

1997

Journal of Archaeological Science

102

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…This type of obsidian is also found in the Grotta Tartaruga and Sammardenchia in north Italy (Williams Thorpe et al, 1979Thorpe et al, , 1984bRandle, Barfield & Bagolini, 1993). Both sites are considered to be the furthest appearances of this type of obsidian and there is co-existence with Liparian obsidian.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 85%

Carpathian Obsidian in Macedonia, Greece

Kilikoglou

Bassiakos

Grimanis

et al. 1996

Journal of Archaeological Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…In contrast to Sardinia and Corsica, obsidian is relatively rare in the French regions of Provence, Languedoc, and the Rhone Valley as well as in northern and central Italy, and it is only at three sites in which obsidian comprises more than 14% of the lithic assemblage, namely Gaione, Grotta all'Onda, and Terres Longues (Ammerman et al 1990;Bigazzi and Radi 1998;Léa et al 2010). While the long-distance procurement of obsidian by Corsican and Italian communities does continue into the Chalcolithic (see Bigazzi and Radi 1998;Randle et al 1993), there is a sharp fall-off in the number of sites in which obsidian has been reported. This diminishment in the use of Sardinian obsidian mirrors the exploitation of the other sources in the West Mediterranean in that obsidian consumption became a more local phenomenon, largely restricted to communities within the immediate vicinity of the various sources and subsources (Freund 2014).…”

Section: Obsidian Circulation and Early Maritime Navigationmentioning

confidence: 96%

Sardinian Obsidian Circulation and Early Maritime Navigation in the Neolithic as Shown Through Social Network Analysis

Freund

Batist

2014

The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Scholars typically argue that cultural interaction between the WestMediterranean islands of Sardinia and Corsica and the European mainland took place through the Tuscan Archipelago, via such intermediary islands as Elba and Pianosa. This path is posited as the prime route in and out of these islands for both people and objects throughout prehistory largely due to the belief that early-pre-sail-seafarers would have wished to avoid more treacherous open-sea voyages. This article tests this hypothesis using social network analysis (SNA) to identify the strengths of inter-site relationships through time based on the relative proportions of West Mediterranean obsidian raw materials at 79 Neolithic sites dating from the sixth to fourth millennia BC. We argue that similar patterns of obsidian consumption reflect similar procurement mechanisms and the likelihood of more frequent interactions between the people of these communities. As such, it becomes possible to reconstruct the relationships that mediated the distribution of obsidian across the landscape. Contrary to previous interpretations highlighting the role of Elba and Pianosa in the exchange of obsidian from the geological sources of Sardinia along the coast to northern Italy and France, our results suggest that obsidian also took a more direct open-sea path upwards of 200 km from Corsica to the coastal regions of Provence and Languedoc in southern France. These results are contextualized within broader patterns of obsidian circulation and use and have important implications for debates surrounding Neolithic obsidian procurement, exchange spheres, and early maritime navigation.

show abstract

Recent Italian Obsidian Analyses

Cited by 21 publications

References 0 publications

Characterization of the Monte Arci (Sardinia) Obsidian Sources

Characterization of the Monte Arci (Sardinia) Obsidian Sources

Carpathian Obsidian in Macedonia, Greece

Sardinian Obsidian Circulation and Early Maritime Navigation in the Neolithic as Shown Through Social Network Analysis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About