Obsidian

A glassy, volcanic rock, often black in color, was used in ancient times to produce extremely sharp blades. Obsidian blades can have an edge so sharp that they have been successfully used as scalpels in heart and eye surgery.

A jet-black to gray, naturally occurring volcanic glass, formed by rapid cooling of viscous lava. It was often used as raw material for the manufacture of stone tools and was very popular as a superior form of flint for flaking or as it is easily chipped to form extremely sharp edges. Obsidian breaks with a conchoidal fracture and is easily chipped into precise and delicate forms. It was very widely traded from the anciently exploited sources in Hungary, Sardinia, Lipari of Sicily, Melos in the Aegean, central and eastern Anatolia, Mexico, etc. Chemical analysis of their trace elements now allows most of the sources to be distinguished (especially by neutron activation and x-ray fluorescence spectrometry), so that the pattern of trade spreading out from each can be traced. Two dating methods have been applied to obsidian: obsidian hydration dating and fission track dating. In Europe, obsidian was exploited extensively from c 6000-3000 BC; after 3000 BC it generally went out of favor for everyday purposes (perhaps as a result of competition from metal tools) but it continued to be used for prestige objects in some areas, especially by the Minoans and Mycenaeans. Obsidian has been quarried and traded by western Melanesians since at least 19,000 bp, with the earliest-used and most important source being that at Talasea on New Britain. Obsidian was also an important trade item in Mesoamerica.

Black, naturally occurring volcanic glass, from which artefacts may be made. This brittle material can be easily chipped to produce implements with an extremely sharp edge; for this reason and because of its splendid appearance obsidian was highly prized by communities in several different parts of the world. Sources of obsidian are relatively rare: the most important ones identified occur in the Mediterranean islands, Anatolia, the Pacific islands and the Americas. The outcrops are few enough and their chemical composition sufficiently distinct for artefacts to be traced to a known source by techniques of chemical analysis (especially neutron activation Two dating methods have been applied to obsidian: obsidian hydration dating and fission track dating. Western Asia. A number of sources in central and eastern Turkey were exploited from cl0,000 be onwards and obsidian was traded for great distances from these sources, occurring as far south as Beidh a in Jordan and Ali Kosh in southwest Iran. A high point in the exploitation of obsidian occurred between 6500 and 5500 be at the Anatolian site of Çatal Hüyük, where it was used not only for bifacially flaked tools and weapons, but also for mirrors and beads demonstrating considerable technical skills. Europe. The most important sources were on Mediterranean islands, especially Melos in the Aegean and Lipari and Sardinia in the Tyrrhenian Sea; another source occurs in Hungary. Obsidian was exploited extensively from c6000 be to 3000 be, and was widely traded within the Mediterranean and in eastern Europe. After 3000 be it generally went out of favour for everyday purposes (perhaps as a result of competition from metal tools) but it continued to be used for prestige objects in some areas, especially by the Minoans and Mycenaeans. Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Obsidian has been quarried and traded by western Melanesians since at least 9000 be (Misisil Cave), with the earliest-used and most important source being that at Talasea on New Britain. Much later, perhaps during Lapita times (1st millennium bc) sources in the Admiralty and D’Entrecasteaux Islands near New Guinea came into use, and Talasea obsidian has been found in Lapita sites in New Caledonia, up to 2600 km from its source. Other Southeast Asian Pacific sources (apparently used on a local basis only) occur in Easter Island, the Lake Kerinci region of Sumatra (in use by 7000-8000 bc at Tianko Panjang Cave), north Sulawesi (in use by 5500 bc at Paso), Java, and Luzon on the Philippines. New Zealand has many sources, the main one being on Mayor Island, with products traded throughout the country from soon after initial settlement {see New Zealand). The Americas. Obsidian was used throughout the Americas as a medium for stone tools, but in Mesoamerica craftsmen displayed remarkable technical skill in overcoming the material’s qualities of hardness and brittleness to produce artefacts of extremely high quality. Items of jewellery, such as ear spools and labrets, were worked to delicate thinness, mirrors were polished to a high finish and the intricate shaping of the enigmatic artefacts known as ‘eccentrics’ utterly defies the qualities of the medium.