A long-term perspective on the exploitation of Lipari obsidian in central Mediterranean prehistory

摘要

Of the four major island sources of obsidian in the central Mediterranean, Lipari raw materials have the widest distribution, being found at over 200 archaeological sites throughout mainland Italy, southern France, northern Africa, and Sicily. As a means of contextualizing the importance of Lipari obsidian within broader cultural processes, this paper discusses the long-term exploitation of the island's raw materials from the sixth to second millennia BC, in turn emphasizing the reflexive relationship between the movement of Lipari obsidian and the broader circumstances that mediated its use.