The archaeological studies about Pantelleria find their origins in the XIX century, but it is only in the last ten years that a great project of researches, concerning the study on the chronological aspects of the human occupation of Pantelleria that involves institutions and Italian and foreign researchers, took place.
Since 1998 to the present days have been realized survey exploration on the 25% of the island and six sites, that cover a chronological area going from the Eneolitic age to the late-antique period have been stratigraphically studied.
Many data in the end, come from underwater archaeological researches; thousands of immersions (dives) made to document and asses the wrecks in the depth of the island took to the finding of 11 archaeological sites placed between 5 and 115 m deep.
Many excavations made underwater allowed to chronologically frame the frequenting of the two main landing places of the island, that is Pantelleria and Scauri.
The archaeological excavations concerned 3 wrecks too : the Punic Roman ones Cala Gadir 1 and Cala Tramontana 1 and the late-antique one of the Port of Scauri.
The analyse and comparison of the data acquired during more than ten years of researches consented to draw the way of settling down that characterizes every historical period owing to the economical, social and political changes involving the Sicily Canal.
As there are not any written sources only the archaeological enquiries are now helping writing the history of an island whose portrait has come to un in a discontinuous and confused way from ancient authors.
ITALIA
