Obsidian archaeological artefacts provenance studies in the Western Mediterranean basin: an approach by Mossbauer spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance

We studied by Fe-57 Mossbauer spectroscopy and EPR 11 obsidian samples from the islands of Lipari, Palmarola, Pantelleria and Sardinia (Western Mediterranean), 26 obsidian artefacts from Italian Neolithic sites of known origin and eight artefacts from the two sites of the Lipari and Filicudi islands whose origins were not previously determined. We show that structural fingerprinting may be considered a viable alternative to formation age or geochemical characterization in obsidian provenance studies in the Neolithic of Western Mediterranean and brings provenance attributions to archaeological obsidians from the Filicudi Eolian island. (C) 2001 Academie des sciences / Editions scientifiques et medicates Elsevier SAS.