The Geological Mining Historical and Environmental Park of Sardinia and the Preservation of the Obsidian Heritage in the Sardinian Territory

The Geological, Mining, Historical and Environmental Park of Sardinia tells over 8000 years of exploitation of the island’s mineral resources, and history among the most lasting and fascinating planet. Starting from the Early Neolithic, local people began to exploit the Monte Arci volcanic complex for its obsidian, a rhyolitic volcanic glass erupted 3 million years ago, used for everyday objects production. Due to the rarity of obsidian sources in the Mediterranean, Monte Arci constituted an attraction for the populations who came to Sardinia to obtain supplies of this precious material and became the earliest center of mining on the island. To enhance Monte Arci’s obsidian as the cradle of civilization in Sardinia, as well as its archaeological, cultural, geological and mining heritage, the Geological, Mining, Historical and Environmental Park concretely collaborated with the municipality of Masullas to open the Obsidian Park of Conca e Cannas, which hosts one of the largest and best quality obsidian deposit of the Mediterranean, as well as the GeoMuseo Monte Arci “Stefano Incani”, focused on the geology of Monte Arci. Also, the Obsidian Museum of Pau has been inaugurated with the municipality’s cooperation to travel through time from an archaeological, historical, and cultural perspective.