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This paper presents a multidisciplinary summary of the most recent discoveries and hypotheses concerning factors driving the human subsistence economy and landscape shaping in Sicily during the Holocene. A number of scientific papers have recently pointed out the key role played by paleogeography, resource (water, food) availability and natural disturbances (volcanic eruptions, tsunamis) in local human activities. Modern anthropology and archaeology increasingly use biological remains (e.g. soils, bones, wood, plant macroremains, pollen) to better understand how human communities managed to survive and spread. Likewise, refined reconstructions of past human demographic fluxes and socio-economic structures may enable a better understanding of landscape dynamics. Specifically, this historical perspective on the management of natural resources allows the finding of past episodes of unsustainable land use (e.g. forest destruction, overgrazing), thus providing a useful basis for future nature protection and maintaining sustainable ecosystem services.

In this paper, we present the results of archaeological samples conducted in 2010 in the seventeenth-century thermal baths at Termini Imerese. The excavations made it possible to find for the first time some parts of the caldarium of the Roman baths. Some sections of the perimeter wall and the paving of the external ambulatory of the building were identified, as well as a small portion of the narrow internal ambulatory, bordered by a pillared portico that overlooked the circular swimming pool, intended for hot baths, located in the centre of the structure. Some remains of the architectural decoration allow to date the building at the beginning of the first century A.D.

The aim of this report is to present the results of archaeological samples, executed in order to contrast illegal researches on a necropolis at Baucina, in the northwestern part of Sicily, where Punic, Greek and indigenous traditions coexisted, in a relationship which is the focus of our ongoing investigation. We collected an archeological dataset, whose interpretation is detecting an articulated situation where the interaction between three different ethnic groups gave as result the variety of rituals. The future excavations of the site could increase the perception of this interaction, for a period in which Greeks and Punics designed their spheres of influence of the territories within the Mediterranean area, telling us about the role of the social system within the geopolitical framework.

The early human peopling of Sicily and Western Mediterranean shores is one of the debated topic in the archaeological and anthropological literature over the twentieth century. This discussion involves not only the specific issue of the peopling of the continental island, but fundamentally the reconstruction of human migration routes and dispersals across the Mediterranean area during Early and Middle Pleistocene. Even if the common route of faunal and human movement is considered from North, and relative to the Messina strait crossing, several authors, on the base of archaeological evidences, hypothesized an early peopling and an African provenance through the Sicilian Channel. This hypothesis has been mostly rejected even if diverse palaeontological and especially archaeological findings of Modus 1 and 2 artifacts from Southern Sicily renewed the attention to this issue. However most Sicilian archaeological evidences are spotty and frequently dubitative, as they lack of stratigraphic context. Direct anthropological data are scarce and relative only to the Upper Palaeolithic and indicate a H. sapiens migration from Italian mainland. Nevertheless, palaeontological and palaeogeographic data do not exclude the possibility of a Middle Pleistocene human peopling at least. Our different research fields helped us to face the problem through diverse perspectives, on the main intent of a critical revision of all the available data from palaeontology, archaeology, palaeogeography and physical anthropology. We propose a critic discussion of the industrial evidences, the georeference of lithic and faunal retrieval sites during Early and Middle Pleistocene and a tentative palaeogeographic reconstruction of Middle Pleistocene coastal lines of Sicily on the base of the georeferred sites. Furthermore, using cranial morphometry in a wide comparative analysis between Upper Palaeolithic Sicilian, European and African samples, we indicate the probable population relationship in Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic transition periods. Our results do not exclude the possibility of several sporadic human peopling related to the Messina Strait accessibility since the Middle Pleistocene. A pulsating trend of dispersal and extinction characterized humans in Sicily at least until Mesolithic transition.

A petrographic characterization has been used here, for the first time, in the study of lithic raw materials exploited in prehistoric Sicily. Our research interests one of the oldest archaeological sites with evidence of the early human peopling of the island (∼15kyr ago): San Teodoro Cave, in northeastern Sicily. Two geological Formations, Numidian and Monte Soro Flysch gave origin to well-rounded pebbly quartzite elements scattered in the marine terraces surrounding the cave and likely exploited as one of the sources of the raw materials for the production of lithic tools by the Epigravettian communities having settled the place. The preference for one of the two qualities of quartzite is hypothesized thanks to the results of the petrographic analysis and a naked eye recognition of the differences between the two varieties of sandstone by the Epigravettian groups is also speculated.

The paper aims at merging the first results from the analyses of the georesources exploited in the site of Piano dei Cardoni (Ustica island, Italy) during the Neolithic phases of its occupation (Middle-Late Neolithic, 4.7-4.2 ka cal BC). Grinding tools consist of a very varied typology of local volcanic rocks, easy to collect and available very close to the investigated site. A selection of shapes and lithology is applied to reach the best performance of the tools. The elevated number of grinders, pestles, mortars testify to an intense activity of food/plant processing in the site. The absence of chert or obsidian resources on the island pushed the human communities to import such raw materials from the Aeolian islands and probably from the north-western area of Palermo. Pumice is collected on the same island, probably due to the local availability and its good quality. Similarly, local clay resources are used for the manufacture of ceramics, mostly burnished and incised wares. Ustica was therefore almost autonomous for the exploitation of resources, with volcanic rocks readily available in abundance and with the most significant exception being chert and obsidian. This last one probably imported and worked on the island and then moved towards North-Western Sicily.

The process of Neolithization of Southern Italy and Sicily covers about 500 years (6200–5700 cal BC) and involves two cultural horizons: Archaic Impressed Ware or “Impresse Arcaiche” and Advanced Impressed Ware or “Impresse Evolute”. In Southern Italy the Neolithic peopling from the East is characterized by a “package” of plenty domesticated plants and livestock; in Sicily the adoption of the new economical system is apparently more slow and with no evidences of ruptures between the Mesolithic groups and first farmers. In this paper we present the chronological and cultural framework of the sixth millennium BC within the area of investigation, with an up-to-date bibliography about settlement and economic strategies, palaeoenvironment and climate. In Southern Italy several open air sites are known and well investigated, in Sicily researches have been concentrated along the shoreline caves. Both regions show similarities in settlement strategies on the long duration. From a cultural point of view, to a first homogeneity of the “Impresse Arcaiche” aspects, after 5800 cal BC, the emergence of original and distinctive features designs different geographical areas.

This paper discusses the Middle Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age phases of the occupation of a rock shelter at Vallone Inferno (Scillato, Palermo) in Sicily. Vallone Inferno is a key site for studying the early establishment and development of pastoralism in the prehistoric mountainous environments of Sicily. Seasonal use of the site as a shelter is documented for the earliest pastoral communities that exploited the Madonie mountain range. The results of the analysis of pottery and lithic assemblages contribute to the definition of two chronocultural frameworks that were linked by the same economic subsistence base. The special role of obsidian emerges, while the mobility patterns of human groups are contextualized by the combination of archaeological and paleoenvironmental data with a focus on the 4.2 ka cal BP aridification climatic event broadly coincident with the final part of the local Copper Age and beginning of the Early Bronze Age. Moreover, since the transition between the Late Copper Age and the Early Bronze Age, mobility of pastoral groups is inferred to be one of the most important factors for the spread of cultural elements on the island.

The Archaeological Superintendency of Palermo (Sicily), with the chair of Anthropology at the University of Palermo, carried out a preliminary investigation in the Zubbio of Cozzo San Pietro (Bagheria) – a cave known so far only from a speleological point of view - which proved to be a funerary cave dating to the Copper/Bronze Age. In the course of archaeological work during the installation of the electricity grid in the Mondello area (Palermo), part of a necropolis consisting of three oven-shaped tombs was exposed. The tombs multiple depositions, whose remains were found in a very bad state of preservation. Based on the type of funerary structures and the equipment found in them, we hypothesize the existence of a necropolis datable to the Early Copper Age that occupies a large area. After an articulated presentation of both necropolises, thanks to a multidisciplinary approach, an attempt was made to re-read all the elements available for a reconstruction of the Conca d’Oro (Palermo, Italy), during the metal ages.

Riassunto — La questione del popolamento umano pleistocenico della Sicilia e delle coste del Mediterraneo occidentale implica la ricostruzione delle rotte migratorie seguite dall’uomo e dalle faune e delle complesse dinamiche geologiche del bacino del Mediterraneo centrale. Anche se la più accreditata via di migrazione comune di faune e uomo è quella settentrionale, che prevede il superamento dell’area dello stretto di Messina, diversi autori, sulla base di dati archeologici, hanno ipotizzato un popolamento precoce ed una direttrice meridionale, dall’Africa, attraverso momenti di percorribilità del Canale di Sicilia. Questa ipotesi è stata più volte esplorata per poi essere accantonata, anche se diversi reperti paleontologici e archeologici, in particolare industrie attribuite nel tempo a Modo 1 e 2, provenienti dalla Sicilia meridionale, riportino continuamente l’attenzione su questa rotta potenziale. La maggior parte delle testimonianze archeologiche suddette sono dubbie in quanto mancano di un contesto stratigrafico trattandosi di ritrovamenti di superficie. Se i dati antropologici non forniscono ad oggi evidenze contestuali, poiché relativi solo al Paleolitico superiore, indicando una migrazione di H. sapiens dalla penisola italiana, i dati paleontologici e paleogeografici invece, non escludono la possibilità di un popolamento umano nel Pleistocene Medio. In questo lavoro proponiamo una revisione critica dei dati disponibili (paleontologici, paleoetnologici, paleogeografici, paleoantropologici) relativi alla problematica del primo popolamento umano della Sicilia attraverso un approccio interdisciplinare, in modo da offrire una visione globale della questione. Intendiamo riaprire una discussione critica sulle evidenze litiche, sulla georeferenziazione dei siti da cui provengono manufatti litici e resti faunistici durante il primo Pleistocene Medio e presentiamo un tentativo di ricostruzione paleogeografica delle linee di costa della Sicilia durante il Pleistocene Medio, sulla base della localizzazione degli stessi siti georeferenziati. I dati attuali non escludono la possibilità che siano avvenuti durante il Pleistocene Medio diversi e sporadici popolamenti umani legati alla variabile accessibilità dello Stretto di Messina. Una tendenza altalenante di fasi di dispersione e di estinzione contraddistingue d’altronde gli esseri umani in Sicilia, almeno fino alla transizione con il Mesolitico. Summary — The question of the human peopling of Sicily and Western Mediterranean shores during Pleistocene times is centred on the reconstruction of human and faunal migration routes and of the complex geological dynamics of the Central Mediterranean basin. Even if the common route of faunal and human movement is considered from North, related to the crossing of Messina strait area, several authors, on the base of archaeological evidences, hypothesized an earlier peopling and an African provenance through the Sicilian Channel. This hypothesis has been several times explored and mostly rejected, even if diverse palaeontological and especially archaeological findings of Modus 1 and 2 artefacts, from Southern Sicily, renew continuously the attention on this potential route. However most Sicilian archaeological evidences are spotty and frequently dubitative, as they lack of stratigraphic context. Direct anthropological data are scarce and relative only to the Upper Palaeolithic and indicate a H. sapiens migration from Italian mainland. Nevertheless, palaeontological and palaeogeographic data do not exclude the possibility of a Middle Pleistocene human peopling. We faced the problem through diverse perspectives, on the main intent of a critical revision of all the available data from palaeontology, archaeology, palaeogeography and physical anthropology. We propose a critic discussion of the industrial evidences, the georeference of lithic and faunal retrieval sites during Middle Pleistocene and a tentative palaeogeographic reconstruction of Middle Pleistocene coastal lines of Sicily on the base of the georeferred sites. The state of art do not exclude the possibility of several sporadic human peopling related to the Messina Strait accessibility since the Middle Pleistocene. A pulsating trend of dispersal and extinction characterized humans in Sicily at least until Mesolithic transition.

Vallone Inferno rock-shelter is an archaeological site located in the Madonie mountain range in Sicily. Archaeological excavation and research have provided a long prehistoric and historic sequence from the Neolithic to the medieval period, this being the most complete work in this area at present. In this paper we present the preliminary data provided by a multidisciplinary study based on pottery, lithic, human, faunal and plant remains. Stratigraphic studies have identified four complexes, of which complex 3 has provided almost all the archaeological remains. 14C AMS dates, obtained from four samples, place the human activities between 2601 cal BC and 644 cal AD. These dates are coherent with the cultural attribution of the ceramic and lithic remains. Macrofaunal and plant remains show a persistent use of the shelter for pastoral activities. Environmental data, obtained from microvertebrate and archaeobotanical remains, show the aridification and opening of the landscape from the base to the top of the sequence as a consequence of the human impact. © 2012 Académie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

The Vallone Inferno rock-shelter is an archeological site located at 770 m a.s.l. in the Madonie massif in Sicily. This massif is modeled into the Triassic and Oligocene sedimentary rocks of the Imerese Basin. Thearchaeological excavations conducted since 2008 have provided a long prehistoric and historic sequence from the Neolithic to the medieval period. From the four sedimentary complexes identified, only levels 3.4 to 3.1 from complex 3 and 4.2 from complex 4 have yielded small-mammal material. Level 4.2 is poor in remains and as yet without cultural ascription, though it has a radiocarbon age of 9450±50 years BP. Level 3.4 has yielded fragments of ceramic characteristic of the Middle Neolithic-Bronze Age period, with a radiocarbon age between 3948±35 and3244±42 years BP. Levels 3.3 to 3.1 have provided ceramic fragments ascribed to the Late Roman-Byzantine period, with a radiocarbon age between1332±26 and 1260±34 years BP.The small-mammal assemblages recovered from the sieving-washing of all the sediment from the excavation campaigns include a total of at least 14 taxa (three insectivores, four chiropterans and seven rodents). The materials from this locality provide the first mention in the fossil record of Sicily for Suncus etruscus, Muscardinus avellanarius, Eliomys quercinus and Rattus norvegicus, as well as the last occurrence for Arvicola amphibius. The scarcity of the remains recovered from stratigraphic levels 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 and 4.2 makes it difficult to undertake a palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatical interpretation of them. However, the richness in small mammal contents from level 3.4 allow us to show that this level is dominated by dry meadows and woodland areas with a temperature and precipitation range that lies within the current values for the surrounding area, coinciding with the dry and temperate phase detected previously by marine surveys and pollen and microcharcoal studies

The Madonie research project analyzes mobility strategies and the use of a mountainous territory by relating geomorphologic features, raw material sources and landscape to the prehistoric settlement. To that end an intensive and systematic survey of sample areas was planned. Areas were selected on geo-morphological, altimetric and archaeological criteria. The palaeoenvironmental investigation is based on the study of palynological sequence samples coming from wet areas of the Madonie territory and from archaeological deposits. Madonie Natural Park lies on the northern coast of Sicily, near Palermo, in the surrounding of the Greek colony of Himera. The Madonie survey is the next stage of a larger research project which investigated the hinterland of the Greek colony of Himera, carried out since the ’80 as a systematic and intensive survey of the territory of three main rivers valleys, Imera, Torto and San Leonardo valleys, with a chronological range from prehistory until the medieval period. Between the main topics of Madonie survey there are the investigation of first peopling of the island, the examination of differences in the settlement strategies between the last stage of Pleistocene and Holocene, the analysis of seasonality models related to hunters-gatherers and then to shepherds and of the origin and development of pastoralism.

The aim of the Madonie research project is to analyse mobility strategies and the use of a mountainous territory by relating geomorphologic features, raw material sources and landscape to the prehistoric settlement. For this purpose we planned an intensive and systematic survey of sample areas, selected on geo-morphological, altimetric and archaeological criteria, correlated to a palaeoenvironmental investigation based on the study of palynological sequence samples coming from wet areas of the Madonie territory and from archaeological deposits. Le projet de recherche sur la Madonie analyse les stratégies de mobilité et l’exploitation du territoire de montagne, en reliant les caractéristiques géomorphologiques, les sources de matières premières et le paysage aux modes d’occupation préhistoriques. Pour ce faire, nous avons mis en œuvre l’étude systématique de certains secteurs sélectionnés suivant des critères géomorphologiques, altimétriques et archéologiques, en parallèle à une recherche paléoenvironnementale fondée sur l’analyse d’échantillons palynologiques en provenance de zones humides et de sites archéologiques du territoire de la Madonie.

The present paper would like to show a research project still in progress, presenting the first preliminary archaeological data. The aim of the Madonie project is to analyse mobility strategies and the use of a mountain territory by prehistoric and historic age population, relating geomorphological features, raw material sources and landscape to settlements. In this occurence we are going to discuss about the prehistoric periods.