{"id":448,"date":"2013-10-29T14:22:02","date_gmt":"2013-10-29T14:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/?p=448"},"modified":"2013-10-30T15:00:47","modified_gmt":"2013-10-30T15:00:47","slug":"obsidian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/object-nominator\/dora-moutsiou\/obsidian\/","title":{"rendered":"Obsidian Microcore and Mirror &#8211; Guest Lecture: Dora Moutsiou"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dora Moutisou talks in this lecture about Obsidian.<\/p>\n<p>This lecture was recorded by the University of Southampton in the Digital Humanities Distributed Laboratory. If you would like to see Dora&#8217;s slides in more detail, or use the interactive tools for this presentation, visit the recording on the CourseCast website:\u00a0<a title=\"Panopto - Dora\" href=\"http:\/\/coursecast.soton.ac.uk\/Panopto\/Pages\/Viewer\/Default.aspx?id=3451962a-2214-4f34-b363-afc2068899a5\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/coursecast.soton.ac.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n<!-- iframe plugin v.6.0 wordpress.org\/plugins\/iframe\/ -->\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/coursecast.soton.ac.uk\/Panopto\/Pages\/Embed\/Default.aspx?id=3451962a-2214-4f34-b363-afc2068899a5&#038;v=1\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\"><\/iframe>\n\n<h1>Obsidian Micro-core<\/h1>\n<figure id=\"attachment_194\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-194\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/files\/2013\/10\/WT_Wk0_ObsidianCore_PublicDomain.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-194\" alt=\"A specimen of obsidian from Lake County, OregonWikipedia user: Locutus Borg.  Public Domain image. \" src=\"http:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/files\/2013\/10\/WT_Wk0_ObsidianCore_PublicDomain-300x300.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/files\/2013\/10\/WT_Wk0_ObsidianCore_PublicDomain-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/files\/2013\/10\/WT_Wk0_ObsidianCore_PublicDomain-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/files\/2013\/10\/WT_Wk0_ObsidianCore_PublicDomain-432x432.jpg 432w, https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/files\/2013\/10\/WT_Wk0_ObsidianCore_PublicDomain-268x268.jpg 268w, https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/files\/2013\/10\/WT_Wk0_ObsidianCore_PublicDomain-700x700.jpg 700w, https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/files\/2013\/10\/WT_Wk0_ObsidianCore_PublicDomain.jpg 870w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-194\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A specimen of obsidian from Lake County, Oregon Wikipedia user: Locutus Borg. Public Domain image.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Obsidian\u2019s high quality for the manufacture of stone implements was recognised very early on by prehistoric tool-makers. Although the use of obsidian is more pronounced in late prehistoric times, particularly in the Neolithic, it is much earlier that the first archaeological evidence for the procurement of obsidian is recorded. Obsidian handaxes are present in Acheulean sites in Africa, for example Kariandusi, but more commonly obsidian Palaeolithic assemblages include cores, retouched tools, flakes and fragments. Obsidian\u2019s excellent knapping qualities resulted in it being transported several kilometres on the Palaeolithic landscape throughout the world, occasionally at great distances too.<\/p>\n<h2>Reading<\/h2>\n<p>Cann, J. R. &amp; Renfrew, C. 1964, The characterization of obsidian and its application to the Mediterranean region, Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 30: 111-133<\/p>\n<p>Gowlett, J. A. J. &amp; Crompton, R. H. 1994, Kariandusi: Acheulean morphology and the question of allometry, The African Archaeological Review 12: 3-42<\/p>\n<h1>Obsidian Mirror<\/h1>\n<figure id=\"attachment_188\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-188\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-188\" alt=\"Obsidian Mirror, in later wooden frame. 1400-1520. Object: 09996. Museum of the Americas, Madrid.Gonzalo Cases Ortega.  Rights Reserved. \u00a9 Ministerio de Educaci\u00f3n, Cultura y Deporte.\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/files\/2013\/10\/WT_Wk0_ObsidianMirror_RightsReserved-300x199.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/files\/2013\/10\/WT_Wk0_ObsidianMirror_RightsReserved-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/files\/2013\/10\/WT_Wk0_ObsidianMirror_RightsReserved-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/files\/2013\/10\/WT_Wk0_ObsidianMirror_RightsReserved-700x465.jpg 700w, https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/files\/2013\/10\/WT_Wk0_ObsidianMirror_RightsReserved.jpg 1540w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-188\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Obsidian Mirror, in later wooden frame. 1400-1520. Object: 09996. Museum of the Americas, Madrid. Gonzalo Cases Ortega. Rights Reserved. \u00a9 Ministerio de Educaci\u00f3n, Cultura y Deporte.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The aesthetic value that obsidian enjoyed in the past reached its apotheosis in the Mesoamerican cultures whose economic and symbolic life it underwrote for ~3000 years. The symbolic importance and authority obsidian attained throughout that period is exemplified by the Aztecs\u2019 respect towards their patron god Tezcatlipoca, Lord of the Smoking Mirror. Tezcatlipoca\u2019 s eponymous possession, the obsidian mirror, was a metaphor for rulership and power. Obsidian\u2019s unequalled utility generated an enduring Mesoamerican aesthetic, unique in its capacity to create social relationships and stimulate symbolic connections.<\/p>\n<h2>Reading<\/h2>\n<p>Heyden, D. 1988, Black Magic: obsidian in symbolism and metaphor, in J. K. Josser\u00a0 and&amp; K. Dakin (eds)\u00a0Smoke and mist: Mesoamerican studies in memory of Thelma D. Sullivan. Oxford, British Archaeological Reports International Series\u00a0402:\u00a0217-236.<\/p>\n<p>Saunders, N.J. 2001, A dark light: reflections on obsidian in Mesoamerica,\u00a0World Archaeology\u00a033: 220-236.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dora Moutisou talks in this lecture about Obsidian. This lecture was recorded by the University of Southampton in the Digital Humanities Distributed Laboratory. If you would like to see Dora&#8217;s slides in more detail, or use the interactive tools for this presentation, visit the recording on the CourseCast website:\u00a0http:\/\/coursecast.soton.ac.uk\/ Obsidian Micro-core Obsidian\u2019s high quality for the manufacture of stone implements &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93713,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[529189,628,538938,543581,151269,527739,538555],"tags":[570563,556453,430960,559291,641,567445,54255,242,571098,636,492,548164,571531,570839,77561,638,629610,640,569920,567328,639,286166,567149,548618,430553,506298,560966,90,552493,568141,568536,20309,637,515,8891],"class_list":["post-448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-11000-3000-years-ago","category-dora-moutsiou","category-exotic-material","category-object","category-podcast","category-taming-nature-and-laying-foundations","category-uses-of-volcanic-glass","tag-acheulean","tag-aesthetic","tag-africa","tag-assemblage","tag-authority","tag-aztec","tag-core","tag-economics","tag-flakes","tag-fragment","tag-god","tag-handaxe","tag-kariandusi","tag-knapping","tag-landscape","tag-manufacture","tag-mediterranean","tag-mesoamerican","tag-micro-core","tag-mirror","tag-morphology","tag-neolithic","tag-obsidian","tag-palaeolithic","tag-panopto","tag-podcast-2","tag-prehistory","tag-social","tag-stone","tag-symbolic","tag-tezcatlipoca","tag-tool","tag-tool-maker","tag-transportation","tag-video","column","threecol"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93713"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":485,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448\/revisions\/485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/wonderful\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}