New perspectives on an “old” technique: Lipari obsidian and Neolithic communities investigated by Fission Track Dating

Abstract

“Lipari obsidian and Neolithic human communities in the Aeolian islands” is a project aimed at studying the connection between obsidian flows on the island of Lipari and Neolithic populations on the Aeolian archipelago, in Italy. As it is well known, obsidian is of particular interest to trace prehistorical trading patterns; indeed, Lipari obsidian has the widest distribution and has been found in southern France, Dalmazia, Sicily and mainland Italy. The project outputs will give a general vision of both archaeological and volcanological aspects through the stratigraphic and radiometric dating of eruptions which produced obsidian, in relationship with the first phases of the human settlements and row material exploitation. To reach this goal, we are considering both raw materials (geological samples) from different flows and artefacts from Neolithic settlements (archaeological samples) on the Aeolian islands, and performing fissiontrack dating to get the age of obsidian sources and artefacts. Obtained results are expected to shed some new light on the raw material procurement and on the ability of the Neolithic populations to move from their locations, with particular attention to the consequences of environmental features on the first human settlements on the Aeolian islands.