Western Mediterranean obsidians characterization by SEM-EDS and the Neolithic site of A Fuata (Corsica)

• Published in: Journal of archaeological science Vol. 37; no. 1; pp. 92 - 106
• Main Authors: Le Bourdonnec, François-Xavier, Bontempi, Jean-Michel, Marini, Nathalie, Mazet, Sylvain, Neuville, Pierre François, Poupeau, Gérard, Sicurani, J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2010
• Subjects: Analytical chemistry; Archaeology and Prehistory; Chemical Sciences; Earth Sciences; Geochemistry; Humanities and Social Sciences; Sciences of the Universe; A Fuata; Provenance; Obsidian; Corsica; Neolithic
• ISSN: 0305-4403; 1095-9238
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2009.09.016

During the Neolithic, obsidians of the Monte Arci (Sardinia) volcanic complex were by far more used in the northern Tyrrhenian area than those of the three other source-islands (Lipari, Palmarola, Pantelleria) in the western Mediterranean. It is shown that merely determinations of content for six major elements with a scanning electron microscope by energy dispersion spectrometry (SEM-EDS) are sufficient to distinguish the four types of Monte Arci obsidians. Because of the compositional similarities between these obsidian types, a multivariate analysis is recommended in provenance studies. Although SEM-EDS, electron microprobe-wavelength dispersion spectrometry (EMP-WDS) and particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) give essentially concordant results in the determination of these six element contents, subtle technique-related biases prevent the combination of SEM-EDS, EMP-WDS and PIXE data on source samples for provenance purposes. An SEM-EDS test-study reveals the first occurrence of obsidians of Lipari for the A Fuata Middle to Late Neolithic site of NW Corsica (north of Sardinia), in addition to the usual Monte Arci obsidians. Similar to EMP-WDS, the SEM-EDS technique requires only millimeter-sized fragments.