engleski

The Use of “Other Stones in Antiquity” in Croatia: Long Distance Acquisition of Obsidian in the Neolithic Period

Obsidian stone tools were used in Croatia starting in the Early Neolithic period (ca. 6000 BC), with the the closest geological sources being in northeastern Hungary, Slovakia, and some of the Tyrrhenian islands of Italy. While some obsidian artifacts had been found long ago, research on prehistoric sites has increased tremendously in the past two decades since Croatia became independent. Along the Adriatic coast (Dalmatia), obsidian has been found in significant quantities at the excavated sites of Danilo, Pokrovnic and Krivace in southeastern Croatia, at sites in Istria including Kargadur, and on the islands of Sušac and Palagruža. Obsidian has also been found in large quantities at sites in northern Croatia such as Samatovci. Overall, this demonstrates significant and regular exchange or contact between Croatia and other parts of Europe, by land and/or by sea. Starting in 2001, chemical analysis has been conducted on more than 250 obsidian artifacts from Croatia, in addition to many geological samples from the Italian island sources of Lipari, Palmarola, Pantelleria and Sardinia, from Carpathian Basin sources in the Tokaj mountains of Hungary and Lower Zemplín of Slovakia, and the Aegean island of Melos. Trace element analyses in particular have been shown to distinguish not only between these sources, but also subsources for each. Analyses were conducted using a portable, non-destructive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (pXRF), which provides quantitative trace element data. The results obtained show that obsidian artifacts in Croatia came from just two main sources, Lipari for sites along the Adriatic, and Lower Zemplín (Slovakia) for sites in northern Croatia. Only a handful of Carpathian obsidian artifacts have been identified in southern Croatia. Significantly, all of the Lipari artifacts come from the Gabellotto subsource, and all but one of the Carpathian artifacts came from Viničky. Overall, it was found that obsidian from Carpathian sources made its way to Adriatic sites in Istria as well as at Danilo and Pokrovnik in southeastern Croatia, but in small percentages compared to Lipari obsidian. The sites tested in northern Croatia, however, had obsidian only from the Carpathian sources, with none from Lipari or elsewhere. These results are combined with other studies for the European/Mediterranean neolithic to evaluate the patterns observed, and integrate the data for obsidian with movement of other materials including ceramics. This study exemplifies the importance of analyzing a significant number of artifacts in order to make strong interpretations about ancient cultures and their socioeconomic systems.

obsidian; Neolithic; Adriatic; sourcing; exchange

nije evidentirano