New data on the exploitation of obsidian in the mediterranean basin: The harbour of pyrgi and the trade in neolithic age

The contribution shows the first results of ongoing research on the origins and prehistoric assumptions of the well-known Etruscan and Roman harbour of Pyrgi, an ancient Ceretan harbour in southern Etruria. In the light of recent land and submarine investigations, traces of ancient frequentations and contacts dating back to the Neolithic era are emerging when the coastal morphology and environmental characteristics of the site were very different from the current ones. The Etruscan port of Pyrgi, which continues its historical history in Roman and Medieval times, appears as the heir of one or more landing points frequented perhaps already in the Middle Neolithic. As part of this contribution, around 60 obsidian finds (waste resulting from the manufacture of arrowheads) were analyzed using the LA-ICP-MS technique (Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry). The comparison between the data obtained on the archaeological finds and the bibliographic data relating to the geological obsidians of the peri-Tyrrhenian area allowed the identification of the provenance of the finds. In particular, most of the finds can be attributed to the Aeolian area, highlighting the leading role played by the Aeolian archipelago in the development of trade of this material. Other sources of supply have been identified on the island of Palmarola and in Sardinia (Monte Arci) although with a lower incidence. The discovery of numerous findings in obsidian from overseas, which took place in the area immediately surrounding Pyrgi, offers different suggestions about the origin of the docking place, with traces of centuries-old frequentation, extended from the Neolithic to the modern era.