Study and Characterisation of Obsidian Artefacts from Mikro Vouni, Samothrace, Greece

Data from past excavations in the northeastern Aegean islands and the Troad have shown that the utilization of obsidian in the chipped stone industries was especially low in this marginal area of the distribution of Melian obsidian. A characterization study by Neutron Activation Analysis (NNA) of obsidian from Troy proved that even though obsidian from Melos is predominant, smaller amounts of obsidian from Gollu Dag were utilized as well. Recent study of the chipped stone industry of Poliochni (Lemnos) indicated that a few of the obsidian artifacts had a different macroscopic appearance from obsidian that is derived from Aegean sources. The excavation of the 19th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities (Komotini) at the tell site of Mikro Vouni, on the southwestern coast of Samothrace, has, so far, concentrated on the cultural sequence of the site, as it is preserved in the stratified deposits of a vertical sounding with an area of 28m� near the summit of the mound. Excavation procedure and recovery techniques have provided an almost total collection of the chipped stone artifacts, among which obsidian represented by 57 pieces constitutes 1.54% of the sample. Their analysis, both typological and laboratory by NAA, forms a useful contribution towards mapping Neolithic and Bronze age obsidian finds in the Aegean relative to source areas and reconstructing exchange and production patterns.