The Source of Corse Obsidian: Provenience Analysis based on Major Element Chemistry

The concentrations of the bulk elements silicon, aluminum, iron, magnesium, calcium, sodium, potassium, and titanium are sufficient to discriminate all sources of obsidian in the Mediterranean. Geological specimens, as well as several hundred obsidian artifacts from neolithic sites in Corsica, have been analyzed by wavelength-dispersive spectrometry using the electron microprobe. Simple bivariate plots discriminate between the main sources of Melos, Lipari, Pantelleria, Palmarola, and Monte Arci (Sardinia), while multivariate step-wise discriminant analysis can confidently assign samples to individual flows from Monte Arci and Pantelleria.

The analysis of 200 samples from 9 stratigraphic levels at Basi (Serra-di-Ferro) represents the largest study ever of obsidian exploitation at any one site in the western Mediterranean, and is singularly important for assessing chronological variation in obsidian exploitation. Our results contradict interpretations based on earlier studies of small numbers of Corsican samples, and indicate that obsidian from five Sardinian sources was utilized. Changing procurement mechanisms may account for differences between the Early and Late Neolithic periods.