Levantini e Fenici in Sicilia: una storia ancora da scrivere

The most recent excavations by the University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’ in Motya have established aprecise stratigraphic sequence of the Bronze Age settlement, which occurred on the island’seasternmost hill (known as the ‘acropolis’) for at least a thousand years from 1900 BC. Six sub-periodshave been determined, each differentiated by elements of material culture and structures, divided intoPrehistory (Motya II, 1800-1250 BC) and Protohistory (Motya III, 1250-800 BC). This new Mothia,older than the Phoenician settlement, finally represented by layers with materials and not only byartifacts found out of context, opens up new insights into the ancient history of the Mediterraneansea and induces research into the so-called indigenous cultures of the various regions of the ‘MiddleSea’, the Mediterranean basin. At the same time, it suggests that we should always rethink the decisiverole of the Phoenicians in the centuries straddling the beginning of the 1st millennium BC.