0000000000845927
AUTHOR
F. Foresta Martin
New Insights into the Provenance of the Obsidian Fragments of the Island of Ustica (Palermo, Sicily)
In this study we applied a multidisciplinary approach, coupling geophysical and geochemical measurements, to unveil the provenance of 170 obsidian flakes, collected on the volcanic island of Ustica (Sicily). On this island there are some prehistoric settlements dated from the Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age. Despite not having geological outcrops of obsidian rocks, the countryside of Ustica is rich in fragments of this volcanic glass, imported from other source areas. The study of obsidian findings was carried out first through visual observations and density measurements. At least two different obsidian families have been distinguished, probably imported from Lipari and Pantelleria isla…
A GEOSITE TO BE SAVED: THE TYRRHENIAN FOSSIL DEPOSIT ON THE ISLAND OF USTICA
During the 1960s, fossil beds characterized by a tropical-sea malacofauna were discovered by G. Ruggieri and G. Buccheri in the Island of Ustica, on the southern slope of Falconiera hill, 32 m asl. Thanks to the presence of Strombus bubonius and other Senegalese guests, the authors estimated that the molluscan fauna had lived around 125,000 years ago, during the Tyrrhenian stage. Recently on the initiative of the “Centro Studi e Documentazione Isola di Ustica”, a research has been initiated to verify the persistence of sand-layers mixed up with Tyrrhenian fossils, even though, in the last 50 years, that area has undergone great changes, because of earthworks which have sealed the deposit. T…
New Insights into the Provenance of the Obsidian Fragments of the Island of Ustica (Palermo, Sicily)
In this study we applied a multidisciplinary approach, coupling geophysical and geochemical measurements, to unveil the provenance of 170 obsidian flakes, collected on the volcanic island of Ustica (Sicily). On this island there are some prehistoric settlements dated from the Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age. Despite not having geological outcrops of obsidian rocks, the countryside of Ustica is rich in fragments of this volcanic glass, imported from other source areas. The study of obsidian findings was carried out first through visual observations and density measurements. At least two different obsidian families have been distinguished, probably imported from Lipari and Pantelleria isla…