Obsidian circulation in the early Holocene Aegean: A case study from Mesolithic Damnoni (SW Crete)

Abstract

Excavation at the Mesolithic site of Damnoni in southwest Crete generated nine tools made of obsidian, a raw material foreign to the island. This study characterises these artefacts' raw material via elemental analyses and their techno-typological nature. These data when located within a broader consideration of the larger Damnoni chipped stone assemblage and the consumption of obsidian at other Mesolithic sites of the larger region enables us to further develop our understanding of maritime activity and hunter-gatherer interaction in the Early Holocene Aegean. Using energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy the obsidian is shown to be Melian, primarily from Sta Nychia, in keeping with Aegean Mesolithic procurement habits more generally. The artefacts were accessed in the form of ready-made tools, likely via exchange with intermediaries, the procurement of such exotic pieces conceivably serving to both maintain and reproduce social relations and cultural traditions at distance.