M. Járó - L. Költő szerk.: Archaeometrical research in Hungary (Budapest, 1988)
Analysis - BIRÓ Katalin, POZSGAI Imre, VLADÁR András: Central European obsidian studies. State of affain in 1987
Central European obsidians and their significance Obsidian is appreciated not only by archaeometry , but archaeology as well. It has a special significance in the research history of Hungarian prehistoric archaeology. At the very beginning of prehistoric studies, Flóris RÓMER, perhaps the most outstanding personality in Hungarian archaeology of the last century, initiated a wide campaign for the collection of "ancient stone-age obsidian and silex". The role of obsidian artefacts is of crucial importance in the formation of, and the acknowledgement of Hungarian prehistoric research. At the Archaeological World Conference, held in Hungary (1876), a great number of localities with obsidian artefacts were presented. Mostly as a result of the stimulating efforts of Römer, the geological-petrological investigation of obsidian was started by József SZABÓ and later Iris student Gyula SZÁDECZKY-KARDOSS, both of them outstanding personalities of Hungarian geology [4—7]. From the history of the first great collections we must mention the name and activity of Tivadar LEHOCZKY, whose outstanding collection of several thousand obsidian implements, mainly from the Szatmár and Bereg counties (today: Transcarpathian parts of the USSR and NW Romania), is still unpublished. In the first "wave" of lithic characterization studies of the thirties of our century, obsidian distribution studies in all countries belonging to the sphere of the Central European obsidian region were started; Czech, Slovakian, Polish and Transylvanian material was published [8—9]. The first iniciatives on the collection of the archaeological material were started in Hungary in the early fifties [10—11]. On the basis of a complete survey of the Palaeohthic material and literature references, available data for the whole Carpathian basin were complied recently [12-13]. From the more recent regional reviews we must also mention the works of KOZEOWSKI-KULCZYCKA, COM SA, WILLMS and subsequent archaeometrical papers as well [14—17]. The geological-petrological evidence on the Central European obsidian sources is, in fact, not much richer than in the times of József Szabó [18]. Several 'legendary" sources existed in the technical literature and friendly oral communications were manifest, most of them the results of erroneous identification of archaeological sites yielding obsidian with the geological sources proper; a classical and unfortunately lasting example is offered by TOMPA [19]. Another group of mistakes arose rom the association of geological sources yielding similar material for stone tools (e. g. opalates of the Hargita Mountains [20]) or connecting sources of other volcanic glasses and obsidian of inferior size or quality, not suitable for working as lithic raw material. Without a complex petroarchaeologicaí survey of the perlite — yielding regions, especially in the Western USSR (Transcarpathian Ukraine) we still cannot be content with our knowledge on the source regions, though archaeometrical investigations prove that even should such sources exist, their role in the raw material supply of the territory is insignificant. The obsidian sources Today we known about workable obsidian from a few primary sources only, in a very small area partly in NE Hungary and in SE Slovakia, in the Tokaj-Presov Mts. On the territory of Hungary , we know about two independent primary sources yielding obsidians of fairly similar but distinguishable character - both from the macroscopic and the chemical points of view. These primary sources are situated at Tolcsva and at Mád and Erdőbénye. These sources yielded obsidian lumps frequently found on secondary deposits over quite extensive areas in the southern parts of the Tokaj Mts.
