Lunati and the island of towers: Obsidian in Nuragic Sardinia

Abstract

This paper discusses Bronze Age Nuragic obsidian exploitation by combining raw material sourcing with techno-typological analysis of a total of 363 obsidian artifacts from two sites in west-central Sardinia. The results are then combined with previously published data to make broader interpretations about obsidian reduction strategies and island-wide exchange networks, making it one of the largest compilations of data on Nuragic obsidian procurement, production, and consumption to date.These new data add nuance to prior generalizations of Nuragic obsidian consumption as an expedient flake-based technology centered on the exploitation of one primary outcrop of obsidian, in turn highlighting the presence of bladelet production as well as regional differences in source exploitation that are distinct from earlier time periods. Despite such diversity, lunates of SC obsidian are ubiquitous and may have circulated as finished products. In this context, the exchange of obsidian likely acted as a means of regulating social relations across space, in turn structuring the flow of goods, information, and ideas that were key to the creation and maintenances of Nuragic identity.