Abstract
Volcanism has produced a natural glass called obsidian that during prehistoric times, from Neolithic to the Metal Ages, was considered a valuable raw material in order to produce efficient cutting tools. Ustica, a small and solitary island in the southwestern Tyrrhenian Sea, despite being volcanic, did not generate any obsidian. Yet the island's soils return large quantities of obsidian fragments, residues of prehistoric use. Where did this material, defined by some archaeologists as the Black Gold of prehistory, come from? This article reviews the archaeometric studies on Ustica’s obsidians, carried out since the middle o f the 1990s, to answer this question. The obsidians of Ustica have become a tracer of commercial and cultural exchanges in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea. The geochemical fingerprint of Ustica obsidians is revealing a network of relations and exchanges not only with neighboring Lipari but also with the most distant Pantelleria and Palmarola islands. A fact that, for a tiny island that was completely devoid of spring water resources, appears surprising, in relation to the prehistoric context.
Highlights
For more than five millennia, since Neolithic (6th millennium BC) to the Middle Bronze Age (1th millennium BC), Ustica, a tiny and solitary island located off the northern coast of Palermo (Figure 1), imported obsidian rocks from some distant sources of the periTyrrhenian area [Foresta Martin et al, 2017]
Hundreds of obsidian fragments were collected during excavation campaigns in the Faraglioni Village, both in stratu and on the surface, attesting that the use of this material in Ustica was still intense during Middle Bronze Age [Tykot and Foresta Martin, 2017]
Extensive investigation on the origin of the archaeological obsidian collected in the island of Ustica, has led to the discovery that this tiny and lonely island north of Palermo, while achieving most of the imports of volcanic glasses from Lipari (85% and more), made procurements from Pantelleria [Tykot, 1995] and occasionally from other distant sources, as the island of Palmarola in Latium [Foresta Martin et al, 2017]
Summary
For more than five millennia, since Neolithic (6th millennium BC) to the Middle Bronze Age (1th millennium BC), Ustica, a tiny and solitary island located off the northern coast of Palermo (Figure 1), imported obsidian rocks from some distant sources of the periTyrrhenian area [Foresta Martin et al, 2017].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
