#MuseumsUnlocked - 'Stone Tools'

Now I know that technically this is volcanic glass, but one of my first research interests was the Aegean and Near Eastern trade in Obsidian, especially its role on #Minoan Crete.

Image: Obsidian Cores from Melos, Ashmolean Museum (AN1880.125)

Obsidian is a commonly occurring feature of Early Minoan sites, especially along the northern coast of the island, with a body of evidence suggesting that a good proportion was imported as macrocores from Melos, but with the production of flakes and tools happening 'in situ'.

The fact that this material was moved along a trade route of some 200km or more speaks to how valuable a commodity it was. Indeed mid-20th century work speculated on its significance in forming the trade routes that would dominate the Bronze and Iron Ages.

For more on the trade of obsidian, see:

Dixon, J. E., J. R. Cann, and Colin Renfrew. "Obsidian and the Origins of Trade." Scientific American 218, no. 3 (1968): 38-47.

For more on obsidian use in Early Minoan Crete, see:

Barry Molloy, et al. “Life and Death of a Bronze Age House: Excavation of Early Minoan I Levels at Priniatikos Pyrgos.” American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 118, no. 2, 2014, pp. 307–358.

#MuseumsUnlocked