The first peopling of Sicily: discussing a new chronology
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 18/09/2020

Sicily is the largest island of the Mediterranean. But, due to its proximity to the firm land and the presence of a land bridge during the LGM, its nature has also been effectively described as “quasi-insular” (Leppard 2014). This condition reflected on the development of the environment during the alternation of climate phases throughout the Pleistocene (Masini et al. 2008). But more interestingly, it also had an impact on the history of studies: such a proximity to the continental landmasses, was seen by the scholars as an a priori guarantee of an early peopling, whose proves were only to be searched and found. Eventually, this attitude brought to the well-known discussions about the presence of a Lower Palaeolithic in Sicily. But while these claims have been since long, definitely archived as wishful thinking, a credible chronology of the first peopling of Sicily remains an open issue. By using the environmental data present in the literature, the island archaeology conclusions on the sea-crossing / seafaring activities in the Mediterranean during the Pleistocene, the available absolute dates, and finally our recent research on the site of Fontana Nuova (di Maida et al. in preparation), a possible new chronology of the first peopling of the island will be presented and discussed. Di Maida, G., M.A. Mannino, B. Krause-Kyora, & S. Talamo. in preparation. “Radiocarbon dating and isotope analysis on the purported Aurignacian human remains from Fontana Nuova (Ragusa, Italy).” Leppard, T. 2014. “Modelling the Impacts of Mediterranean Island Colonization by Archaic Hominins: The Likelihood of an Insular Lower Palaeolithic.” Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 27 (2):231-54. Masini, F., D. Petruso, L. Bonfiglio, & G. Mangano. 2008. “Origination and extinction patterns of mammals in three central Western Mediterranean islands from the Late Miocene to Quaternary.” Quaternary International 182 (1):63-79. 

Author(s): di Maida, Gianpiero (Graduate School Human Development in Landscapes, Christian-Albrechts Universitat zu Kiel) - Mannino, Marcello (Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology) - Talamo, Sahra (Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)