Aiding and abetting the archaeological enquiry: geochemical work-in-progress at the site of San Vincenzo, Stromboli, Aeolian Islands, Italy

This paper focuses on the site of San Vincenzo, Stromboli, Italy, and the use of the portable X-Ray Fluorescence analyser (p-XRF) in the field, as a fast and efficient means of geochemical data collection and processing, without the need to remove a sample. The purpose of the exercise is to aid the archaeological enquiry and to attempt to tie archaeological deposits and their chronology with the natural bedrock (i. e. scoriae and lapilli). We conclude that throughout the Bronze Age phase of the settlement the chemical make-up of the archaeological deposits is drawn largely from the lapilli-rich deposits which were formed after the end of the Neostromboli period, punctuated with those drawn from the scoriaceous lava that preceded the lapilli phase at the end of the same period. On the other hand, the post-BA deposits are geochemically different, pointing to new eruptive events. Our on-going work aims to systematically assess and compare the information that derives from each of the different disciplines involved – archaeology, geology, geochemistry and volcanology – in an attempt to reveal site formation processes and the anthropogenic activities within.