Long-Distance Obsidian Trade from Multiple Island Sources to Prehistoric Tuscany, Italy

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Obsidian tools and flakes are regularly found at prehistoric sites in Tuscany, indicating long-distance trade and distribution during the Neolithic through Bronze Age periods (ca. 6000-1000 BC). Some 436 artifacts from six archaeological sites in Florence, Siena, and Grosseto, some 300 km from the nearest geological obsidian source, were tested with a non-destructive portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. Calibrated trace element results for Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, and Nb were used to assign specific geological sources, while geological samples for the sources on Lipari, Palmarola, Sardinia, and other Mediterranean islands were analyzed with the same instrument. In this study, Sardinia accounts for more than 50% of the artifacts tested, Lipari nearly 30%, and Palmarola almost 20%. Most of the Lipari and Palmarola obsidian artifacts are from the Middle Neolithic sites of Spazzavento and Chiarentana, and most of the Sardinia obsidian artifacts are from the Late Neolithic site of Neto-Via Verga and two survey areas of the Maremma Regional Park. These data are compared with previous studies of 937 obsidian artifacts from many sites in Tuscany, along with their specific location, archaeological contexts, and cultural periods. The obsidian distribution patterns are used to propose potential transportation routes and changes over time.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37957.0