L’ossidiana nel villaggio neolitico de La Marmotta (Scavi 1992-1999)

The source of origin of obsidian found in the village of La Marmotta (Lake Bracciano) in the sectors excavated in the years 1992-1999 is illustrated. Out of a total of 5708 lithic tools, 525 obsidian elements were found: for 360 of these, thanks to analyses conducted by non-destructive methods, the source of origin is specified. The amount of obsidian from Palmarola is almost six times greater than that from the more remote island of Lipari. Obsidian from other Mediterranean sources is not documented. The distribution of Palmarola and Lipari obsidian in the different structures of the settlement is analyzed. In order to understand when the first arrival of the Pontine and Liparite obsidian dates back to, the obsidian incorporated in the basic archaeological levels of the structures and that found in the sub-levels immediately above is then examined in particular: Palmarola obsidian as a percentage was found to be 86,12 percent, Lipari obsidian only 13,88 percent. For the issue related to the period of earliest dissemination of Palmarola obsidian and to test the plausibility of the hypothesis that would see a greater antiquity of arrival, at least in certain areas of the western Mediterranean, of Palmarola obsidian than of Lipari and Sardinian obsidian are then examined Mediterranean localities where Pontine obsidian alone was in association with materials datable to the earliest phases of Early Neolithic.