D. Bernal-Casasola, D. Malfitana, A. Mazzaglia, J.J. Díaz

VII.

the relations between the various production sites, between these and the neighbouring
settlements, or between these and the maritime or land transport systems;
the reasons and the motivations underlying the occurrence of long-lasting phenomena,
which may entail the continuation over time of the same functions and vocations of
the territory and of the human groups that carried out their existence in them, as in the
case of the presence of fish establishments datable in the modern and/or in the
contemporary age, in continuity and spatial contiguity with the ancient ones;
similarities and differences in geographically distant sites, but united by belonging to
the same chronological, cultural and/or functional horizon;
historical, economic and political dynamics that influenced the fate of each production
site under study.

VIII.

IX.
X.

Figure 2. The five components of the “fishing cycle” object of research in Archeofish.

3

ANCIENT FISHING ACTIVITIES IN THE SOUTH-WEST OF SICILY

The decision to examine the two Sicilian sites of Portopalo di Capo Passero and Vendicari,
both located in the South-Eastern part of the island, is not a coincidence. The significant
evidences that the previous excavations have brought to light leave no doubts about the
importance and the role that the two sites assumed and maintained for several centuries. This
has reassured us of the high information potential that a restart of methodologically advanced
investigations would ensure, with direct repercussions on our knowledge of the island’s
economy and its social and cultural aspects.
However, these are the issues related to some peculiarities of the production facilities at both
Sicilian sites that have stimulated a restart of the investigations. Portopalo di Capo Passero and
Vendicari are the only sites for the production of canned fish in the Mediterranean in the ancient
period that, together with the Spanish site of Baelo Claudia, have tanks with a circular structure
and a sub-cylindrical profile.
The different levels of our historical knowledge for the two sites, the Spanish and the
Sicilian one, has forced the Archeofish project to implement different research strategies.
The two Sicilian sites of Portopalo di Capo Passero and Vendicari were investigated with a
program of activities specifically designed in the context of the results of previous
investigations.
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