Sicily

This chapter discusses contacts and interaction between Sicily, Greece, and neighboring areas from a Sicilian viewpoint, focusing mainly on the Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age (LBA), and the Iron Age. Various kinds of external contact and interaction, including colonization, are prominent in accounts of Sicilian cultural development. Western Sicily is much better known than it was only 30 years ago. Southeast Sicily benefited most from Orsi's tireless work, which enriched the Archaeological Museum of Syracuse, although it focused on burials and pre‐dates modern excavation methods. In Italy, the LBA is subdivided into Recent Bronze Age and Final Bronze Age phases. A wide range of metal ornaments, tools, and weapons occurs in burials and hoards. For the later 9th‐early 8th centuries in Sicily, just prior to Greek colonization, there is limited evidence for long‐distance trade, possibly due to a lack of excavated coastal sites.