Obsidian Analysis and West Mediterranean Socio-Economic Organization

The analysis of obsidian by electron microprobe and laser ablation mass spectrometry makes possible the reconstruction of socio-economic organization in neolithic and bronze age Italy. Statistically significant samples from a large number of sites are used to study distribution patterns and exchange systems in discrete spatial zones during specific time periods. Archaeological data and mathematical models are used to infer diachronic changes in social organization and to test hypotheses regarding the development of politically constrained economic networks during the bronze age.