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Monte Arci is located in central-western Sardinia, in the hinterland of the Gulf of Oristano; it has a roughly elliptical shape, elongated in a north-south direction, with the major axis measuring about thirty kilometers and the minor one about seven. Its maximum height is 812 m above sea level at the neck (ancient volcanic conduit) of Trebina Longa. The Monte t Arci Geomining Park covers an area of about 270 square kilometers, equal to 7% of the total extension of the areas included in the Geomining Park of Sardinia.
Sardinia's first mining district was activated in the early sixth millennium B.C. when small communities that landed on the island following Neolithic colonization, discovered and used obsidian from Monte Arci. This glassy, predominantly black, shell-like fractured, glittering rock of volcanic origin was particularly sought after by people of the “pre-metallurgical age” as a raw material for the production of weapons and tools. Together with Palmarola, Lipari and Pantelleria, Mount Arci was one of the rare mining sites in the Mediterranean area. Today we know of about 10 collection centers, 72 processing centers located near the outcrops, and about 200 prehistoric sites scattered throughout Sardinia, easily recognizable by the abundance of obsidian fragments and shards, residues of processing.
A flourishing trade of what is better known as the black gold of antiquity leads to the birth of collection centers and stone workshops from which the material, raw or already processed, is transferred not only throughout Sardinia but also in neighboring Corsica, Tuscany, Liguria and southern France, all regions lacking this important resource.