Between cooking and knapping in the southern Caucasus: Obsidian-tempered ceramics from Aratashen (Armenia) and Mentesh Tepe (Azerbaijan)

Obsidian-tempered ceramics represent a typical production of the Chalcolithic period in the southern Caucasus. Previous studies have already assessed the viability of LA-ICP-MS analysis to identify the provenance of the obsidian temper contained in the ceramic paste. In this article the results of the analyses of the obsidian-tempered ceramics and of the obsidian lithic artefacts from the sites of Aratashen (Armenia) and Mentesh Tepe (Azerbaidjan) are compared. The aim of this comparison is to define analogies and differences in the modalities of acquisition of the obsidian as they are revealed by ceramic and lithic production at two sites that were localised at different distances from primary and secondary sources of obsidian. The results of this comparison allowed us to highlight different modalities of provisioning and exploitation of the same raw material by knappers and potters.