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Archaeology 2B > Mediterranean Obsidian Trade/Exchange > Flashcards

Mediterranean Obsidian Trade/Exchange Flashcards

1
Q

What can we learn from trade?

A
  • Production and consumption
  • Relations or contacts between peoples and groups
  • Social and economic developments
  • Ideas of value, symbolic importance of things
  • Chronology/dating
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2
Q

Polanyi (1957): 3 types of trade/exchange

A
  • Reciprocal: reciprocating with the normal equivalence of the thing received without delay
  • Redistribution: collecting material centrally and reallocating it
  • Market or commerical: Purchase and movement of goods without the knowledge of the identity of further purchaser
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3
Q

Obsidian formation

A
  • Rock form as a result from volcanic activity
  • Special circumstances of cooling are required and high viscosity in the rock
  • Isotropic in structure, easy to work
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4
Q

Use of obsidian and eras in which they’re found

A
  • Very likely used to manufactured of cutting and piercing tools
  • In Prehistoric Europe, it was mainly used for making tools
  • In Egypt it was used for decorative or symbolic objects (chipping, grinding, abrasion)
  • Most Neolithic sites in the Med and the Near East have obsidian artefacts in them
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5
Q

Why is obsidian useful in exchange studies

A
  • Because of its chemical and geological nature
  • Limited sources of workable obsidian, all are on island in the central western Med
  • Artefacts occur hundreds of miles away from these sources: importable items
  • Not all obsidian is of exactly the same quality
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6
Q

4 main sites for workable obsidian

A
  • Lipari:
  • One of main sources in Western Med
  • Very pure obsidian, clear glassy appearence, easy to work
  • Coastal location: maritime travel and trade
  • Old pumice works (white hills of pumice)
  • Malta:
  • Variable in quality
  • Pantelleria:
  • Greenish hue
  • Volcanic island
  • Melos:
  • Major source for obsidian in Greece and Aegean
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7
Q

Annerman, 1985

A
  • Wanted to conduct a detailed survey on obsidian
  • Went fieldworking in Calabria (source)
  • Found 200 sites within a few seasons
  • Made a map dislpaying the percentage of obsidian in lithic assemblages at select neolithic sites
  • Concluded that most on the sites on the West Coast had over 90% obsidian
  • Didn’t find rough lumps, obsidian had been pre-prepared into cores on the island and then shipped
  • More waste near the source: abundant supply
  • Less waste further from the source: better looked after
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8
Q

Franchthi cave site

A
  • Obsidian from Melo found in late Palaeolithic-Mesolithic layers
  • Been sourcing obsidian long before farming
  • Could venture via paddling easily to Melos
  • Humans adept to sea travel
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9
Q

Renfrew & Bahn (2020) - Optical Emission Spectrometry (OES)

A
  • Used in 1950s-60s for the characterisation of Obsidian (as well as metallurgy and faience beads)
  • Based on the principle that the outer electrons of the atoms of every chemical element emit a light of a particular wavelength and colour when a sample is excited (heated in a carbon arc)
  • The light given off is composed of different wavelengths, which can be seperated into a spectrum
  • The presence or absence of various elements can be established by looking for the appropriate spectral line of their characteristic wavelengths
  • Accuracy of about 25%
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9
Q

Renfrew & Bahn (2020): Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES)

A
  • Follows same basic principles of OES but the sample in solution is atomized and excited in a stream of argon plasma rather than in a carbon arc
  • Very high temps can be reached which reduced problem of interference between elements
  • 10mg needed for elemental analysis, accuracy of +5%
  • Not excessively expensive, high rate of sampling achieved
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10
Q

Renfrew & Bahn (2020): Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA)

A
  • Used in 1970s for trace element analysis of pottery, obsidian, rocks, semi-precious stones
  • Depends on the transmutation of the nuclei of the atoms of a sample’s various elements by bombarding them with slow thermal neutron
  • Leads to the production of radioactive isotopes of most elements present in the sample
  • Isotopes decay into stable ones by emitting radiation (often gamma)
  • The energies of these gamma rays are characteristic of the radioactive isotopes, and are measured to identify the elements present
  • The intensity of radiation of a given energy can be compared with that emitted by a standard that was irradiated together with the sample, hence the quality of the element in the sample can be calculated
  • +5% accuracy
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11
Q

Tykot (2017) - Obsidian studies in central Med over last 50 years

A
  • Detailed analysis on 4 Italian Islands
  • Minimally (ICP-MS) or totally (XRF, pXRF) non-destructive analysis
  • > 10,000 analyses in last decade
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12
Q

Tykot (2017) - Obsidian studies in the 60s

A

The first successsful analyses of obsidian distinguishing between sources was accomplished using OES (Cann & Renfrew, 1964)

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13
Q

Tykot (2017) - Obsidian studies in the 70s

A
  • NAA was applied and this method used trace elements to clearly distinguish between idland sources
  • NAA is automated which allowed for analysis of a significant number of artefacts
  • Renfew et al developed a hypothesis using interaction zones to compare geographic obsidian distribution patterns in central Med
  • Clear that obsidian from Lipari and Sardinia travelled over great distances from the Neolithic
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14
Q

Tykot (2017) - Lipari Obsidian and sub-sources

A
  • Clear evidenec of Neolithic settlement in Lipari
  • The obsidian was only geologically formed late in the Mesolithic, 1000-2000 years earlier
  • A detailed survey of the outcrops has been studied and may be distinbuished chemically
  • Monte della Guardia obsidian is too small to make stone tools
  • Canneto Dentro sources appear to have been fairly small in size and quantity
    The Gabellotto Gorge source is much larger in quantity and accessible
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15
Q

Tykot (2017) - 2007 obsidian analysis

A
  • Non-destructive, portable XRF spectrometer began to be used to analyse collections in museums and other locations, rather than transporting to laboratories
  • Analyses of thousands of artifacts in central Med
  • In a simple X-Y graph, using 3 trace elements, its possible to distinguish all of the Med island sources, as well as Carpathian and Aegean sources
16
Q

Tykot (2017) - Proportions of obsidian present at sites are based on many variables

A
  • Physical properties
  • Accessibility
  • Distance from those islands
  • Local topography and settlement patterns
  • The actual trade and transportation methods used
  • The distribution and exchange of other materials
  • The contemporary socioeconomic system
17
Q

Tykot (2017): Annerman’s survey

A
  • Annerman’s survey of Neolithic sites in Acconia revealed extensive obsidian artifacts, accounting for more than 90% of lithics
  • Number of prepared cores from Lipari
  • Many artifacts were Stentinello blades, with only a small number having reached secondary modification (retouch)
  • Distance of more than 100km from Lipari
  • These finds clearly indicate a high frequency of well-organised production and exchange in the Neolithic
18
Q

Tykot (2017): Eastern Sicily

A

Analytical studies done in Eastern Sicily show that all obsidian came from Lipari

19
Q

Tykot (2017): pXRF differences between Calabria and Eastern Sicily

A
  • Both regions experienced primary reduction in the Lipari source area by local populations, with preformed cores then transported to Eatern Sicily and Calabria
  • Communities in Eastern Sicily appear to have maintained a widespread tradition of pressure flaked, distinctively wide blade production
  • Does not appear that Eastern Sicily sites acted as redistribution nodes as is observed for Calabria and elsewhere in Peninsular Italy
20
Q

Tykot (2017): Summary of central Med Obsidian

A
  • Obsidian use began with the introduction of a Neolithic lifeway which continued for over 4500 years
  • Includes the establishment of year-round settlements, domestic animal husbandry, and production and use of ceramics
  • Ranked and complex socities, increased boat technology, and metallurgy developed
21
Q

Tykot (2017) Directions travelled are a complex pattern based on 3 criteria:

A

1) The terrain from the source to the island coast
2) Sea travel directions affected by wave and wind patterns which changed seasonally along with safety practices staying near coastlines or other islands
- From arrival at a near coastal area, the terrain and existing patterns to inland sites

22
Q

Renfrew & Bahn (2020): Social structure

A
  • Social structure may be defined as the pattern of repeated contacts between people
  • Social organisation and exchange are simply different aspects of the same process
23
Q

Renfrew & Bahn (2020): Importance of trade and exchange

A
  • Finds of goods exchanged are the most concrete evidence for determining the contact between different areas and different societies
  • Pleistocene exchagne networks are now being subjected to systematic study, and the distances that raw materials were transported are being used to reflect how hominin groups gathered and exchanged information
24
Q

Renfew & Bahn (2020): Immanuel Wallerstein’s World System

A
  • Used the term ‘world system’ or ‘world economy’ to designate an economic unit articulated by trade networks extending far beyond the boundaries of individual political units and linking them together in a larger functioning unit
25
Q

Robb & Farr (2005) sea travel

A
  • Evidence of Neolithic boats in the Mediterranean is sparese
  • The earliest known boats from Italy are dugout canoes or log boat
  • Equally simple vessels of reeds or logs would’ve been used on coastal waters
  • No evidence for sailing anywhere in this period, very likely that these boats would’ve been paddled
  • The early circulation of obsidian provides one of the best indicators of early sea voyages, providing positive evidence of the earliest sea trade in the world
26
Q

Robb & Farr (2005) oral tradition

A

Through oral traditions and collective memories, mental maps of a sequence of memorised images or of an idealisted journey a a chain of events could be passed down, combined with external reference points as landmarks

27
Q

Robb & Farr (2005) Why did people want/need obsidian in the first place

A
  • Sharper than flint but brittle and its edges break and blunt easily
  • Primarily used for slicing plants, animals, or other relatively soft materials
  • Prestige marker
  • Bladelets used for rituals of the human body: shaving, scarification, circumcision, sacrifice
28
Q

Robb & Farr (2005) - manufacture of obsidian artifacts

A
  • Lipari obsidian preferred to Sardinian obsidian for thin bladelets bc of its greater gloss and translucency
  • Annerman 1979 argued that Lipari obsidian was carried to Calabria as roughed-out cores that were worked before being exchanged further

Archaeology 2B (10 decks)

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