VANDALS, OSTROGOTHS AND THE BYZANTINE FOOTPRINTS IN SICILY: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL-HISTORICAL REVIEW

This paper presents the review of historical and archeological perspectives on Sicily in the period of Vandals and Ostrogoths invasions, and Byzantine reconquest of the island, and includes new research (excavations and surveys) and archaeological artefacts discovered recently on archaeological sites Akrai/Acrae in southeastern Sicily. Sicily as the largest and centrally–located island on the Mediterranean Sea, rich in natural resources and playing a key role in political shuffles, was a natural crossroad of trading routes, a melting pot of diverse cultures. Therefore for many reasons it was a ring of various historical events, including Late Antiquity. Since end of 430 AD, after the Vandals conquered the lands of North Africa, island reentered the mainstream of history and became a disputed land and the main battlefield for the Vandals, Ostrogoths, and the Byzantine Empire, which did not leave its economy and population untouched. The political reshuffling and military actions were signalised in the literature mostly in the context of coastal towns of islands, but recent studies of material culture, settlement distribution and roads, show that it surely influenced the cultural landscape of the entire island. The paper also draws attention on the need to cross scientific disciplines (history and archaeology) which might be useful in solving elusive ancient problem and issues, in this case thanks to the archaeological material culture filling gaps in historical and written source sources associated with presence of Vandals, Ostrogoths and Byzantine Empire in Sicily, with particular interest of its interior.