Uploaded December 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
An obsidian core was recently discovered in a Neolithic shipwreck off the coast of Capri at a depth of between 30 and 40 metres. The core is covered in chisel markings and was probably being traded to be made into tools or ritual objects. Obsidian can only be found at a few sites in the Central Mediterranean, but was extremely useful to the ancients. It is, therefore, found at many Neolithic sites that do not have natural sources of it. In this video I discuss this discovery as well as the cultures that predominated in the Central Mediterranean during the Neolithic.
#ancient #ancienthistory #mediterranean
✨ IN THIS EPISODE
00:00 Introduction
00:51 Discovery of the Shipwreck
02:27 Neolithic Italy
04:17 Megalithic Cultures
✨ RELATED VIDEOS
NEW Paper REVEALS Finds From A SUBMERGED Neolithic Village In Italy
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A 9,000 YEAR-OLD Submerged Megalith In The SICILIAN channel?
youtube.com/watch?v=ax4QvDkcwdI
✨ JOIN MY CHANNEL
youtube.com/channel/UC0Hs5t0U6Uf993Tba22YmKA/join
✨ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIALS
BlueSky: @MegalithHunter.bsky.social
✨ REFERENCES
Metcalfe, T. (2023). ‘Chiseled obsidian recovered from Neolithic shipwreck near Capri's 'Blue Grotto',’ Livescience, 22 November. livescience.com/archaeology/chiseled-obsidian-recovered-from-neolithic-shipwreck-near-capris-blue-grotto
✨ PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS
CC BY 4.0 DEED creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Figure 2 from Parkinson, E.W., McLaughlin, T.R., Esposito, C. et al. Radiocarbon Dated Trends and Central Mediterranean Prehistory. J World Prehistory 34, 317–379 (2021).
CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Obsidian, credit: B. Domangue
CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Argimusco in Sicily, credit: Bdsklo
Google Earth
Location of Capri
Location of obsidian sources
Location of Lake Bracciano
Other
Images of the Neolithic shipwreck site credit: Naples Superintendency for Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape
Photographs of Sardinia and Malta, credit: MegalithHunter
An obsidian core was recently discovered in a Neolithic shipwreck off the coast of Capri at a depth of between 30 and 40 metres. The core is covered in chisel markings and was probably being traded to be made into tools or ritual objects. Obsidian can only be found at a few sites in the Central Mediterranean, but was extremely useful to the ancients. It is, therefore, found at many Neolithic sites that do not have natural sources of it. In this video I discuss this discovery as well as the cultures that predominated in the Central Mediterranean during the Neolithic.
#ancient #ancienthistory #mediterranean
✨ IN THIS EPISODE
00:00 Introduction
00:51 Discovery of the Shipwreck
02:27 Neolithic Italy
04:17 Megalithic Cultures
✨ RELATED VIDEOS
NEW Paper REVEALS Finds From A SUBMERGED Neolithic Village In Italy
youtube.com/watch?v=GFg7dY_J0e0
A 9,000 YEAR-OLD Submerged Megalith In The SICILIAN channel?
youtube.com/watch?v=ax4QvDkcwdI
✨ JOIN MY CHANNEL
youtube.com/channel/UC0Hs5t0U6Uf993Tba22YmKA/join
✨ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIALS
BlueSky: @MegalithHunter.bsky.social
✨ REFERENCES
Metcalfe, T. (2023). ‘Chiseled obsidian recovered from Neolithic shipwreck near Capri's 'Blue Grotto',’ Livescience, 22 November. livescience.com/archaeology/chiseled-obsidian-recovered-from-neolithic-shipwreck-near-capris-blue-grotto
✨ PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS
CC BY 4.0 DEED creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Figure 2 from Parkinson, E.W., McLaughlin, T.R., Esposito, C. et al. Radiocarbon Dated Trends and Central Mediterranean Prehistory. J World Prehistory 34, 317–379 (2021).
CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Obsidian, credit: B. Domangue
CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Argimusco in Sicily, credit: Bdsklo
Google Earth
Location of Capri
Location of obsidian sources
Location of Lake Bracciano
Other
Images of the Neolithic shipwreck site credit: Naples Superintendency for Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape
Photographs of Sardinia and Malta, credit: MegalithHunter
