Obsidian

Museo G. A. Sanna - Ossidiana: fogliato bifacciale. Foto di Elisabetta Loi, 2017, da Catalogo BBCC RAS

Obsidian is a type of volcanic, glassy rock found in various areas of the Mediterranean, including Sardinia. Here obsidian is located in the important Monte Arci deposit, in the Oristano area.
Due to its mineralogical characteristics, which make it particularly suitable for chipping, obsidian became over prehistoric times a precious raw material used for the production of various types of lithic tools: blades, scrapers, graters, arrowheads, burins, etc.
Scholars seem generally oriented towards the hypothesis that the extraction and processing of Sardinian obsidian took place, not only for local use, but also for commercial exchange purposes. The most recent studies in this regard, however, tend to critically reduce the validity of this hypothesis. Be that as it may, Sardinia was certainly one of the most important mining centers in the entire Mediterranean basin.
The research that has been going on for some time on Monte Arci has made it possible to identify different centers for the extraction and processing of obsidian, providing valuable information regarding the entire technological and economic chain that, from the extraction of obsidian from the quarries, reached the production of the finished product. One of the most important processing centers located on Monte Arci is that of Pau.
From a quantitative point of view, the presence of obsidian lithic tools predominates in the center-south of the island, while in the north the use of obsidian as a raw material is accompanied (more frequently than in the south) with the use of flint.

Update

3/2/2026 - 10:03