Search results for "obsidian"
showing 7 items of 17 documents
Petrographic and spectroscopic (FT-IR) study of Western Mediterranean obsidians geological sources and of a lithic collection from Ustica Island (Sic…
2019
I n this study we applied petrochemical methods (SEM-EDS; FT-IR) in order to characterize a group of obsidian flakes collected at Ustica island (Sicily). Despite the absence of obsidian geological outcrops, a lot of obsidian fragments still emerging from the lands of Ustica testify that the island was a major import center of obsidian during the prehistory. On this island, there are some prehistoric settlements, dated from the Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age (6000- 1200 BC), in which the use of obsidian continued until the beginning of metals age. Our study includes: i) Macroscopic and microscopic optical observations, which allowed selecting 18 obsidian flakes (starting from 50 obsidian…
Unravelling textural heterogeneity in obsidian:shear-induced outgassing in the Rocche Rosse flow
2016
Obsidian flow emplacement is a complex and understudied aspect of silicic volcanism. Of particular importance is the question of how highly viscous magma can lose sufficient gas in order to erupt effusively as a lava flow. Using an array of methods we study the extreme textural heterogeneity of the Rocche Rosse obsidian flow in Lipari, a 2. km long, 100. m thick, ~. 800. year old lava flow, with respect to outgassing and emplacement mechanisms. 2D and 3D vesicle analyses and density measurements are used to classify the lava into four textural types: 'glassy' obsidian (<. 15% vesicles), 'pumiceous' lava (>. 40% vesicles), high aspect ratio, 'shear banded' lava (20-40% vesicles) and lo…
Materials and Tools across Volcanoes: Exploitation of Georesources in Piano dei Cardoni (Ustica, Italy) during Prehistory.
2021
The paper aims at merging the first results from the analyses of the georesources exploited in the site of Piano dei Cardoni (Ustica island, Italy) during the Neolithic phases of its occupation (Middle-Late Neolithic, 4.7-4.2 ka cal BC). Grinding tools consist of a very varied typology of local volcanic rocks, easy to collect and available very close to the investigated site. A selection of shapes and lithology is applied to reach the best performance of the tools. The elevated number of grinders, pestles, mortars testify to an intense activity of food/plant processing in the site. The absence of chert or obsidian resources on the island pushed the human communities to import such raw ma…
VolcDeGas: A program for modelling hydrogen isotope fractionation during degassing of rhyolitic melts
2020
Magma degassing mechanisms are key determinants of explosive and effusive eruption styles. Paired measurements of H2O content and hydrogen isotopic ratios (e.g., dD) in pyroclastic and effusive products can elucidate end-member degassing mechanisms (e.g. closed and open system) during eruption. Here we present VolcDeGas, a MatLab program that models dD-H2O degassing trajectories of rhyolitic magma. Operating within an intuitive GUI, VolcDeGas calculates degassing paths based on: initial dD (in ‰), the H2O content of the melt (wt.%), degassing step size, and temperature. VolcDeGas also calculates hydrous speciation based on either empirical models or analytical data, and incorporates this…
Obsidian from the Neolithic Layers of “Grotta di San Michele Arcangelo di Saracena” (Cosenza), Italy. A Preliminary Report
2021
Abstract The paper presents the results obtained by techno-typological analysis of a lithic assemblage from the Neolithic layers of Grotta San Michele Arcangelo di Saracena (Cosenza) together with the results of micro-wear analysis obtained from a preliminary selection of obsidian artifacts with different provenances distinguished by pXRF analysis. The site provides one of the best preserved Neolithic sequences in the area, from the earliest Impressed Wares (or Impresse Arcaiche) (early sixth millennium BC) to the Spatarella pottery style (end fifth – early fourth millennium BC). Along the Neolithic sequence, it is possible to observe some major changes within lithic resources management. I…
Early pastoral communities in the mountains of Sicily. Prehistoric evidence from Vallone Inferno (Scillato) in the palaeoenvironmental framework of t…
2021
Abstract This paper discusses the Middle Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age phases of the occupation of a rock shelter at Vallone Inferno (Scillato, Palermo) in Sicily. Vallone Inferno is a key site for studying the early establishment and development of pastoralism in the prehistoric mountainous environments of Sicily. Seasonal use of the site as a shelter is documented for the earliest pastoral communities that exploited the Madonie mountain range. The results of the analysis of pottery and lithic assemblages contribute to the definition of two chronocultural frameworks that were linked by the same economic subsistence base. The special role of obsidian emerges, while the mobility pattern…
Experiments and results on obsidian tools: the case study of Le Rocche (Roccapalumba, Pa, Sicily) through microwear analysis.
2003
The results of the experimental activity related to the functional analysis of obsidian tools, coming from the Neolithic site of "Le Rocche" (Roccapalumba, Palermo), are discussed here.