Abri des Castelli -2140 m asl: a neolithic occupation in the corsican mountain (original) (raw)
Related papers
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2010
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.
Provenance d’artefacts en rhyolite corse : évaluation des méthodes d’analyse géochimique
Comptes Rendus Palevol, 2018
Through the analysis of flint and obsidian artefacts, numerous studies have shown the links that existed between Corsica and Sardinia during Neolithic and Chalcolithic. However, we have almost no information about the movements and exchanges that took place in Corsica itself. Rhyolite, a siliceous volcanic rock, has been exploited in Corsica and disseminated throughout the territory from the early Neolithic. Up to now, only one major study has been conducted in the North of the island, in order to identify, by petrographic analysis, the raw material deposits of these rhyolite artefacts. Petrography is a destructive method; it is thus difficult to apply it to large series of archaeological objects. Our aim was therefore to investigate less invasive analytical methods, based on the geochemistry of rocks, in order to conduct future studies based on these rhyolite remains. We analysed 34 geological samples from four different sources, as well as 31 archaeological samples unearthed at three different archaeological areas. We show that EDXRF is an effective method to discriminate sources but also to characterise artefacts using nondestructive protocol. LA-ICP-MS encounters issues due to heterogeneity of the studied rocks. However, we show that by adjusting our testing protocol this method can complement the EDXRF analysis, which is ineffective on objects that are too thin.
Early Neolithic obsidians in Sardinia (Western Mediterranean): the Su Carroppu case
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2007
All the obsidians from the undisturbed Early Neolithic (Cardial ware phase I) layer of the Su Carroppu rock-shelter (Sardinia island) were studied. Their elemental composition and that of obsidians from the Monte Arci (Sardinia) volcanic complex was determined by ion beam analysis (PIXE). A comparison between the composition of Su Carroppu artefacts, analysed non-destructively, and that of Western Mediterranean analysed in the same conditions shows that the archaeological material belongs to the SA, SB2 and SC Monte Arci-types, to the exclusion of the SB1 type. The typological/technological study of this industry allowed us to reconstruct two chaînes opératoires, for the production of blades (using predominantly SC obsidians) and of flakes (based exclusively on SA and SB2 obsidians), respectively, but on the whole, assemblage blade/bladelet production was performed somewhat preferably with SA and SB2 types. Thus, in the earliest EN culture known on the island, ancient man had, for the making of its obsidian toolkit, a highly adaptive behaviour applied to the reduction of different useful obsidian sources.
Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, 2010
Although Corsica is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean, its archaeology is internationally less well known than that of many smaller Mediterranean islands. La Balagne Landscape Project (LBLP) was initiated to redress this situation but also, for the first time in Corsica, to undertake a surface survey in order systematically to recover and record archaeological features and materials over an extensive area. La Balagne in northwestern Corsica was chosen as the region of study because of its recent history of archaeological excavation and find spot documentation. During the course of three survey field seasons in 2006–2008, elements of seven communes (administrative districts) were surveyed and a total of 89 temporally distinct ‘evidence zones’ (e-zones) were discovered. The data collected by the LBLP to date suggest significant differences in the locus of settlements over time, but little change to the landscape. The coastal and near coastal zone has been the focus for habitation from the Early Neolithic onwards, but the interior was not extensively exploited until the recent past.
Perspectives: Sourcing Epi-Palaeolithic to Chalcolithic Obsidian from the Öküzini Cave (SW Turkey)
Paléorient
Fifty-six pieces of obsidian from the Öküzini Cave in SW Anatolia were elementally characterised using particle induced x-ray emission [PIXE], the artefacts coming from strata that span the early Epi-Palaeolithic to Late Chalcolithic. The obsidian comes from two sources in southern Cappadocia, East Göllü Dağ and Nenezi Dağ (380 km distant), representing the earliest evidence for these sources’ use at distance. The cave’s inhabitants perpetually existed on the margins of those socio-economic networks responsible for the circulation of these central Anatolian resources, obsidian only rarely crossing the cultural boundaries that separated the cave’s populations from their contemporaries in the Konya Plain and Cilicia.