Obsidian in Pre Historic Malta

When I started my Tourist Guiding course I never expected it to be this interesting. I mean, I knew it involved a lot of history (which I love) and there would be an element of Theatre in it, but then Gemstones came into the picture and made the whole thing a lot more intriguing.

As soon as I stepped into the Museum of Archaeology in Valletta, at the very entrance of the Pre Historic Phase section, I was greeted by some lovely pieces of Obsidian! From my knowledge and experience in the gemological field I knew that they could have not been found in Malta. So how did this stone end up on our sunny isles? Je ne sais pas! So, it became my mission (and somewhat school assignment) to find out how and why this non native stone was on our shores.

Let's start from the very beginning. Humans are believed to have resided in Malta between 5266 and 4846 BCE, we usually round it up to 5000 BCE! Our pre historic settlers who were thought to have come down from Sicily are believed to have been Farmers. This does mean that these sharp tools were ONLY tools and not weapons used to hurt each other, due to evidence found of course. Now, in the 1960's archaeologists made an incredible discovery

Obsidian Arrowhead Pendant at Hagar Qim Temples

which pieced together the Ghar Dalam Phase (when our natives lived in caves) and the Temple Phase (when our natives built the temples). This was the discovery of the first known settlement on the island (people living in huts) which is the Skorba Phase (4500 - 4100 BCE). As if discovering a pre historic village wasn't enough, archaeologists also found this foreign stone amongst pottery and other ornaments.

But where did Obsidian come from? Experts believe that Pre Historic Men (and women!) used boats to travel around Europe. Now, we know that our settlers probably came from Sicily, but this is where it all gets interesting, Obsidian, being Volcanic Glass, is usually found near Volcanoes (duh!) but Mount Etna (Sicilian Volcano) does not produce Obsidian...so where did it come from?

Other volcanic Islands near Malta and Sicily are Lipari and Pantelleria! Our Obsidian comes from there, but some of you might be asking how do we know this? Well, first of all, historians did research (I know, how bright of me) and this resulted in us knowing which island they came from and which Obsidian belongs to which Island! There are two types of Obsidian found in Malta; Greyish Obsidian is believed to have come from Lipari and Greenish Brown Obsidian is believed to have come from Pantelleria (fascinating isn't it?).

Along with Obsidian we also find another foreign mineral, which is Flint, although Flint is not the stone in the spotlight for todays blog, we shall use this stone as comparison to Obsidian. The difference in most stones does not only come from their colour and how pretty they are. As most of you know, we use a hardness grading system called 'The Mohs Scale', were we measure a stones hardness from one to ten. At number one (the softest) we find Talc, a mineral that can be scratched by a fingernail, and at number 10 (the hardest) we have Diamonds. So where do Flint and Obsidian stand? Obsidian ranks at 5 to 5.5 and Flint at 7. Therefore meaning that Flint is stronger and harder than Obsidian, so why was it used? Why do we have so much Obsidian if Flint is stronger? Fret not my fellow readers (hope at least someone is reading this) I might have an answer. Obsidian, being softer makes it easier to flake (Flaking is the process by which a stones edges are being carefully broken off to turn it into a sharp object) and once flaked Obsidian which is a lot like glass (volcanic glass) can become very very sharp, making it quite useful as a knife and tool, therefore that might be the reason we have so much of it.

Another variety of Obsidian

Now, we know that Obsidian was important to pre historic man (and women). But this isn't the last we heard of Obsidian! This gem is still very useful and relevant, from the operating theatres of hospitals, to weapons used to defeat white walkers (Game of Thrones theme song in the background), to jewellery and accessories, this stone seems to have stood the test of time and refuses to be sidelined.

I, for one, adore Obsidian Jewellery, although making it might be tricker than expected! Its not the first time I cut myself on a piece of Obsidian while turning one into a necklace or have it shatter in my hand after tightening the jewellery wire too tight! If you are looking to get yourself on an Obsidian pendant head over to Libertalia (https://www.instagram.com/libertalia.malta/ or https://www.facebook.com/libertaliamalta) and ask the Captain to show you what he has in stock! If not, just head over there and give us a like and follow us, you'll never know, you might find something of interest there!

I hope that this was an interesting read to all of you and who knows maybe you might have learned something today. Keep in touch and see you in our next blog Pirates.