The Origin and Exchange of Obsidian From Vinča-Belo Brdo (original) (raw)
Interactions-Transmission-Transformation - Long-distance Connections in the Metal Ages of Southeastern Europe conference proceedings volume, Belgrade, 2025
The study of obsidian artefacts in the Central Balkans has predominantly focused on the Neolithic period, leaving the role of this material in the subsequent Copper (Eneolithic) and Bronze Ages largely underexplored. This paper presents the initial results of a detailed technotypological analysis of 39 obsidian artefacts recovered from four archaeological contexts dated between 5th and 2nd millennium BC in Serbia. The study examines the features related to the production and use of these artefacts and it is complemented by macroscopic observations of their colour, texture, transparency, and banding. The analysis provides insights into the characteristics of obsidian products, suggesting that they were most likely imported as ready-made products (mainly blades) and thicker flakes or chunks, while highlighting evidence of further on-site full exploitation towards exhaustion. The primary objective of this study is to contribute to our understanding of the post-Neolithic use of obsidian at sites in the central Balkans located far from known sources, while also laying the groundwork for future provenance studies and broader interpretations of exchange systems.
The distribution and provenance of archaeological obsidian in central and eastern Europe
Journal of Archaeological Science, 1984
The sources of archaeological obsidian in central and eastern Europe are briefly described and analyses of48 samples from 10 of these sources in northeast Hungary and southeast Slovakia are reported. Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis was used to determine 16 trace elements and two major elements. Principal Components Analysis supported by Discriminant Analysis showed seven analytical groups in these data. A total of 270 pieces of archaeological obsidian were assigned by Discriminant Analysis to three of the Carpathian source groups defined, the remaining four source groups not being represented in the archaeological record. The three source groups used are: (1) Sziillijske and M&I Toroiia in Slovakia (designated group Carpathian 1); (2) CsepegG For&, Tolcsva area, Olaszliszka and ErdabCnye in Hungary (Carpathian 2a); and (3) Erdiibknye (Carpathian 2b). Carpathian 2a and 2b type obsidians are both found at the re-deposited source of Erdlibbnye. Carpathian obsidian was used most widely in Hungary, Slovakia and Romania, and also reached south to the Danube in Yugoslavia, west to Moravia, Austria and to the Adriatic near Trieste, and &th to Poland. Carpathian 2a obsidian was used in the Aurignacian period, Carpathian 1 in the Gravettian and Mesolithic, and Carpathian 1,2a and 2b in the Neolithic, when Carpathian 1 predominated and obsidian use was at its most intensive. Only Carpathian 1 type has been identified in the Copper and Bronze Ages. There is no evidence at present for any overlap between the Carpathian obsidian distribution and the distributions of the Near Eastern or Aegean sources, but there is an overlap with Mediterranean obsidian at the Neolithic site of Grotta Tartaruga in northeast Italy where Liparian and Carpathian 1 material were identified. The distribution of obsidian from the Carpathian sources is considered in terms of linear supply routes. Based on limited available evidence the supply zone is significantly smaller and the rate of fall-off with distance slightly lower than that reported for Near Eastern obsidians.
Sourcing obsidian artefacts from Early Neolithic sites in South-Central Romania
Materiale şi cercetãri arheologice (Serie nouã), 2019
Portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (pXRF) was used to reveal the chemical signatures of 60 obsidian artefacts from two Early Neolithic sites in the Muntenia region of southern Romania-Uliești in Dâmbovița County and Măgura-Buduiasca in Teleorman County. The results show that the Starčevo-Criș communities at both sites used obsidian that originated from geological sources in the Carpathians. Obsidian from the C1 and C2 source areas occurs at Măgura, while only C1 obsidian has been documented in the much smaller assemblage from Uliești. We consider the implications of these results for obsidian procurement patterns documented among the earliest farmers of the northern Balkans. Cuvinte-cheie: pXRF, surse de obsidian, neolitic, Starčevo-Criș, sud-centrul României Rezumat: Spectrometrul portabil cu raze X (pXRF) a fost utilizat pentru a determina semnătura chimică a 60 de piese din obsidian provenind din două situri neolitice timpurii din Muntenia, sudul României: Uliești din județul Dâmbovița și Măgura-Buduiasca din județul Teleorman. Conform rezultatelor obținute, comunitățile Starčevo-Criș din ambele localități au folosit obsidian care provenea din surse geologice carpatice. Obsidianul din zonele sursă C1 și C2 apare la Măgura, în timp ce numai obsidianul de tip C1 a fost documentat în ansamblul litic mult mai redus de la Uliești. Sunt discutate apoi implicațiile acestor rezultate pentru modelele de obținere a obsidianului de către comunitățile neolitice timpurii din zona nord-balcanică.
Archaeology and Science 18, 2022
A large collection of obsidian finds from the Late Neolithic layers of the Vinča-Belo Brdo site, recovered during the excavations led by M. Vasić from 1929 to 1934, is curated in the Archaeological Collection of the University of Belgrade. Despite the long history of research of this collection, a detailed technological analysis of this material has not been conducted thus far. In this study, the results of technological analysis of 1,261 obsidian finds from the Late Neolithic levels of Belo Brdo are presented and discussed in the light of new data about the site. The results show that, although caution is needed when generating insights about the past based on this old collection, it can be a valuable source for making new inferences about the past.
New Data on the Archaeological Obsidians from the Banat
This paper deals with the study of a limited number of obsidian artefacts from the earliest FTN Criş sites of the Banat and Transylvania. The first impression is that the first FTN farmers, who settled in the region at the turn of the 8 th millennium uncal BP, had a limited local supply of bad quality lithic raw materials. The pioneer search for workable stones, north of the maximum spread of the FTN, led to the discovery of the Slovak (Cejkov e Kašov: Carpathian 1) and Hungarian (Mád: Carpathian 2E), Tokaj deposits, which both started to be exploited on a very small scale. The pattern began to vary during the successive stages of the FTN and, more dramatically, since the beginning of the Middle Neolithic Vinča Culture. From this time on, the Slovak sources started to be more intensively exploited, as indicated by the recovery of a greater number of unretouched artefacts and functional tools, and the first of trans-Carpathian Volhynian flints to be imported. RIASSUNTO-Nuovi dati sulle ossidiane dei siti archeologici del Banat e della Transilvania (Romania). Il presente lavoro riguarda lo studio di un gruppo limitato di manufatti di ossidiana provenienti da siti del Neolitico più antico del Banat e della Transilvania appartenenti al gruppo culturale di Criş. L'impressione generale che deriva dall'analisi dei reperti è che le prime popolazioni di agricoltori-allevatori dell'FTN, che insediarono la regione subito prima dell'inizio del settimo millennio uncal BP, avessero a disposizione localmente pochissimo materiale litico scheggiabile, per di più di qualità scadente. La ricerca pionieristica di fonti di approvvigionamento portò alla scoperta di giacimenti di ossidiana ubicati ben oltre il limite più settentrionale dell'espansione più settentrionale dell'FTN, con un conseguente primo limitato sfruttamento dei depositi dei Monti Tokaj sia della Slovacchia (Cejkov e Kašov: Carpathian 1), sia dell'Ungheria (Mád: Carpathian 2E). Il quadro iniziò a mutare lentamente durante lo sviluppo dell'FTN, e più drasticamente durante la Cultura di Vinča, nel Neolitico Medio, con uno sfruttamento più intensivo principalmente delle fonti Slovacche, che si riflette nella maggiore quantità di prodotti rinvenuti nei siti archeologici e anche dalla confezione di oggetti funzionali, e nell'inizio dell'importazione di selce Volhynian dai giacimenti transcarpatici.
Reflections on Volcanic Glass: Proceedings of the 2021 International Obsidian Conference, 2024
Stone tools, although one of the most abundant facets of the archaeological record, have in the past almost exclusively been considered with regards to the transmission of technological traditions or cultural habits, expressed in the presence of “cultures” or “technocomplexes,” and too infrequently studied for their role within economic systems and systems of value. In the European Neolithic research tradition, studies of social organization usually focus on exotic materials such as obsidian, jade, lapis lazuli, spondylus shells, early copper, or elaborate pottery. “Exotic,” in this context, means materials that have a recognizable visual appearance or that occur rarely, and with original sources that are well-known and can be clearly delineated (e.g., one mountain, one mine) or restricted to a small area. In this sense, obsidian provides an excellent opportunity to look closer at the provenance approach to identifying the potential value of material in the past. To systematically examine the quantitative distribution and exchange of obsidian tools and their integration into community-specific systems of value is an approach that will help promote a better understanding of obsidian’s social and economic role in prehistory. For this reason, this chapter focuses on the appearance of obsidian artifacts in a number of different archaeological contexts, including settlement features, burials, and deposits (depots or hoards), to study the various forms of value in the Carpathian Basin.
Tracing the source of obsidian from prehistoric sites in Bulgaria
Portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) spectrometry was used to obtain source determinations for 11 obsidian artefacts from five archaeological sites in Bulgaria. The results show that all the archaeological specimens can be linked to obsidian sources in the Carpathian Mountains in the border region between Hungary and Slovakia. Obsidian from the C2E source in Hungary occurred in very early Neolithic contexts at Dzhulyunitsa, while the majority of samples from later contexts at Ohoden, Dzherman and Varna came mainly from the Slovakian (C1) source. The data hint at a shift from the use of C2 obsidian in the Neolithic before 5900 cal BC, to a preference for C1 obsidian in later periods – however, more finds and better contextual and chronological data are required to verify this trend.
Tracing the source of obsidian from prehistoric sites in Bulgaria [2017]
2017
Portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) spectrometry was used to obtain source determinations for 11 obsidian artefacts from five archaeological sites in Bulgaria. The results show that all the archaeological specimens can be linked to obsidian sources in the Carpathian Mountains in the border region between Hungary and Slovakia. Obsidian from the C2E source in Hungary occurred in very early Neolithic contexts at Dzhulyunitsa, while the majority of samples from later contexts at Ohoden, Dzherman and Varna came mainly from the Slovakian (C1) source. The data hint at a shift from the use of C2 obsidian in the Neolithic before 5900 cal BC, to a preference for C1 obsidian in later periods – however, more finds and better contextual and chronological data are required to verify this trend.
Sourcing obsidian artefacts from Early Neolithic sites in south-central Romania [2019]
Materiale şi Cercetări Arheologice (serie nouă), 2019
Portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (pXRF) was used to reveal the chemical signatures of 60 obsidian artefacts from two Early Neolithic sites in the Muntenia region of southern Romania-Uliești in Dâmbovița County and Măgura-Buduiasca in Teleorman County. The results show that the Starčevo-Criș communities at both sites used obsidian that originated from geological sources in the Carpathians. Obsidian from the C1 and C2 source areas occurs at Măgura, while only C1 obsidian has been documented in the much smaller assemblage from Uliești. We consider the implications of these results for obsidian procurement patterns documented among the earliest farmers of the northern Balkans.
Investigating the provenance of obsidian from Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites in Bulgaria [2017]
2017
Non-destructive pXRF analysis of obsidian artefacts from Ohoden, Dzherman and Dzhulyunitsa (Early Neolithic) and Varna (Chalcolithic) in Bulgaria show that the obsidian came from geological sources in the Carpathian Mountains. The research forms part of a wider study of archaeological obsidian in south-eastern Europe involving archaeologists from Bulgaria, Romania and the UK, with the aim of reconstructing changes in patterns of procurement, production and use of obsidian between the Middle Palaeolithic and the Iron Age.
The origin and distribution of obsidian in prehistoric Bohemia
2017
This paper summarizes current knowledge of the distribution of obsidian in prehistoric Bohemia (Czech Republic). In terms of this raw material’s distribution, Bohemia is a peripheral area, and it is also the westernmost part of its regular archaeological occurrence. Because of its rarity within the specified area, it is possible to identify this material quite easily even in earlier archaeological literature, and together with new discoveries, to create a coherent picture of its distribution. So far, only two locations in Bohemia have been described where the processing of raw obsidian material is documented. Both these sites are located in the eastern part of the study area; in terms of location these are the closest sites to the anticipated sources. The sites are dated to a later stage of the Stroked Pottery culture. Because no such processing sites are known from other periods, we believe it was mainly the distribution of entire blanks and pre-prepared cores that took place at th...
ASSOURCING OBSIDIAN FROM PREHISTORIC SITES IN NORTHWEST ROMANIA
Portable X‐ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (pXRF) was used to reveal the chemical signatures of 75 obsidian artefacts from seven sites in the Satu Mare region, ranging in age from Early Neolithic (late Starčevo‐Criș culture) to Late Copper Age. The results reveal the origin of the obsidian to be the Carpathian 1 source area in eastern Slovakia, reinforcing the pattern documented elsewhere in Romania and in northern Bulgaria which indicates a clear preference for Carpathian 1 obsidian throughout the period from the later stages of the Early Neolithic to the Bronze Age.
Sourcing obsidian from prehistoric sites in northwest Romania
Materiale şi cercetãri arheologice (Serie nouã)
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