Villaggio preistorico di Capo Milazzese

The prehistoric village of Capo Milazzese lies on a promontory above Cala Junco on Panarea. Its remains include the ground plans of 23 oval huts and one quadrangular building. Mycenaean pottery and other finds connect the Bronze Age settlement with wider Mediterranean exchange.

Why it matters

The settlement occupies a defensible plateau on a headland bounded by steep cliffs and joined to the island by a narrow neck. Institutional accounts date the village to the fourteenth century BC and record Mycenaean material among the finds. These objects place Panarea within the wider networks of exchange that linked communities across the Mediterranean during the Bronze Age.

What to notice

The low remains of the huts follow the contours of the plateau. The settlement includes 23 oval buildings and one quadrangular structure. Its position above Cala Junco shows how the inhabitants used the protected summit and the natural landform of the promontory. The surrounding rock is composed of volcanic material that formed long before the settlement.

Context and history

The village was identified in 1948. Finds include ceramics, vessels, grindstones and utensils, including Mycenaean material. The promontory is part of a raised marine terrace formed from volcanic lavas; its geology predates the Bronze Age community that built there. The site is part of the archaeological heritage of the Aeolian Islands, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage property in 2000.