Domesticating islandscapes: Sicily and the Maltese Islands in the Later Neolithic and Eneolithic Ages (IV-III millennium BC)

The Late Neolithic and the early phases of the Eneolithic period in Sicily and Malta are an ideal theatre for island archaeology in general, and in particular for exploring the relationships between islands and the extra-insular world , according to the most up-to-date studies on the Mediterranean island communities, specifically the Aegean in the Early Bronze Age (EBA). In view of the above, the aim of the present paper is firstly to investigate the new data found in Sicily and to compare them with the contemporary cultures of the south-western Balkans and north-western Greece during the transitional phase from the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age.