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OBSIDIAN CONSUMPTION IN THE LATE PLEISTOCENE – EARLY HOLOCENE AEGEAN: CONTEXTUALISING NEW DATA FROM MESOLITHIC CRETE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 August 2016

Tristan Carter
Tristan Carter*
Affiliation:
McMaster University, Ontario, Canada
*
stringy@mcmaster.ca
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Abstract

This paper details the characterisation of four obsidian artefacts from the Mesolithic site of Livari Skiadi, one of only a handful of such pre-Neolithic sites on Crete. Elemental analysis using EDXRF sources the raw materials to Sta Nychia on Melos; in concert with other data, it can be suggested that this was the preferred Melian source for Late Pleistocene – Early Holocene populations. The Livari material represents the earliest Melian obsidian on Crete and by implication the first evidence of its inhabitants' connections to the Cycladic islands. When located within a broader review of Melian obsidian use in the Upper Palaeolithic – Mesolithic Aegean, it can be shown that the main consumers of these raw materials were island-based groups with immediate access to waterways that led to the Cyclades. It is suggested that distinctions between island and mainland toolkits (technical and raw material choices) may have been the product of seasonal, and environmental influences, rather than reflecting the products of different populations. Finally, certain datasets, including Livari, suggest the procurement of obsidian via intermediaries. These exchanges are viewed in avowedly social terms, with gift-giving a fundamental manner through which inter-group relations were created and maintained, whereby the circulation of obsidian can be viewed as one of those mechanisms through which Mesolithic Aegean cultural traditions came to be produced and reproduced.

Κατανάλωση οψιανού κατά το Ύστερο Πλειστόκαινο- Πρώιμο Ολόκαινο στο Αιγαίο: πλαισιοποιώντας τα νέα δεδομένα από τη Μεσολιθική Κρήτη

Σε αυτό το άρθρο παρατίθεται η ανάλυση τεσσάρων τεχνέργων από οψιανό από τη Μεσολιθική θέση Λιβάρι Σκιάδι, μια από τις σπάνιες προ- Νεολιθικές θέσεις στην Κρήτη. Η ανάλυση με τη χρήση EDXRF ταυτίζει τις πρώτες ύλες με την περιοχή Στα Νύχια στη Μήλο; σε συνάρτηση με άλλα δεδομένα, προτείνεται ότι αυτή αποτελούσε την προτιμώμενη πηγή μηλιακού οψιανού για τους πληθυσμούς του Ανώτερου Πλειστόκαινου- Πρώιμου Ολόκαινου. Το υλικό από το Λιβάρι αποτελεί τον αρχαιότερο μηλιακό οψιανό στην Κρήτη και κατ’ επέκταση τα πρώτα στοιχεία για τις επαφές των κατοίκων της με τα νησιά των Κυκλάδων. Ιδωμένος στα πλαίσια μιας ευρύτερης ανασκόπησης του οψιανού που χρησιμοποιείτο στο Ανώτερο Παλαιολιθικό- Μεσολιθικό Αιγαίο, υποδεικνύεται ότι οι βασικοί καταναλωτές αυτών των πρώτων υλών ήταν ομάδες με βάση τα νησιά που είχαν άμεση πρόσβαση στις θαλάσσιες διόδους που οδηγούσαν στις Κυκλάδες. Προτείνεται ότι οι διαφορές μεταξύ νησιωτικών και ηπειρωτικών λιθοτεχνικών συνόλων (επιλογών τεχνικής και πρώτων υλών) ενδεχομένως ήταν αποτέλεσμα εποχικών, και περιβαλλοντικών επιδράσεων, και δεν αντιπροσώπευαν προϊόντα διαφορετικών πληθυσμών. Τέλος, ορισμένα σύνολα δεδομένων, όπως και το Λιβάρι, υποδεικνύουν την πρόσκτηση οψιανού μέσω μεσαζόντων. Αυτές οι ανταλλαγές θεωρούνται αναμφίβολα με όρους κοινωνικούς, με την ανταλλαγή δώρων ως θεμελιώδη τρόπο μέσω του οποίου δημιουργούνται και συντηρούνταν δεσμοί μεταξύ ομάδων, ενώ η διακίνηση του οψιανού μπορεί να ιδωθεί ως ένας από τους μηχανισμούς με τους οποίους διαμορφώνονταν και αναπαράγονταν οι πολιτιστικές παραδόσεις του Μεσολιθικού Αιγαίου.

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Articles
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Annual of the British School at Athens , Volume 111 , November 2016 , pp. 13 - 34
Copyright
Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens 2016 

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