XRF Semi-Quantitative Analysis and Multivariate Statistics for the Classification of Obsidian Flows in the Mediterranean Area

Obsidian is a natural volcanic glass formed after eruptions if very rapid cooling of lava occurs. In particular conditions, the silicate ions cannot reach crystalline lattice ordered formation and assume chaotic arrangement, giving origin to obsidian flows. has been used since Paleolithic period make tools because its durability; in Neolithic period, trade played an important role Mediterranean area, currently, interest for tracing prehistoric trading patterns. this work, we present semi-quantitative approach, exploiting energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) coupled with principal component analysis. We consider geological samples from five main collection sites archaeological Basin (i.e., Pantelleria, Lipari, Palmarola, Sardinia islands Italy Milos Island Greece) obtain reliable classification fragments’ provenance, also comparing chemical fingerprints data literature. Reported results show that non-invasive protocol could ease application samples, such as blades splinters, permitting artifacts found archeological area even when relatively few are considered.