Astronomy and landscape at the prehistoric settlement Villaggio dei Faraglioni, Ustica, Sicily

TL;DR

This study investigates how the prehistoric settlement Villaggio dei Faraglioni was deliberately placed and oriented based on landscape and archaeoastronomical considerations, revealing its potential use for seasonal calendar and navigation.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the settlement's placement and orientation, highlighting its intentional design for astronomical and landscape reasons, which is a novel approach in prehistoric archaeology.

Findings

Settlement aligned with sun's rising and setting near winter solstice

Location chosen for landscape view rather than defense

Possible astronomical orientation of urban layout

Abstract

The placement of the Middle Bronze Age settlement Villaggio dei Faraglioni on the Ustica island, one of the best preserved prehistoric village of the Mediterranean area, is analyzed from a cognitive point of view, taking into account archaeoastronomy and landscape archaeology aspects. It turns out that the place might have been selected because of its privileged position with respect to the landscape, better than conforming to utilitarian/defensive considerations, as instead occurs for contemporary, for instance Mycenaean, sites. From the village it was indeed possible to follow the rising and setting of the sun in the months close to the winter solstice on the two elevated peaks existing on the opposite side of the island, in a symmetric way. As a consequence, the inhabitants could determine the day of the winter solstice with an approximation of a few days, using this partial calendar for agricultural and navigational purposes. A possible astronomical orientation of the urban layout is also analyzed