Scoglio Del Tonno

Prehistoric site on a promontory projecting into the harbor of Taranto in Puglie, Italy, where a Middle and Late Bronze Age settlement existed. It was first occupied during the Late Neolithic by people suing Serra D'Alto Ware. It was then abandoned but resettled in the mid-2nd millennium BC by a community of the Apennine Bronze Age culture. A great wealth of material of the 14th-12th centuries BC has been found, including much bronzework and sherds of Late Helladic III pottery, which indicate contact with Mycenaean traders c 1300 BC. After the collapse of the Mycenaean world, Scoglio del Tonno continued to exist and trade with the Greek world It survived until the foundation of the Greek colony of Taras in 706 BC. Scoglio del Tonno was destroyed, after excavation, when the port was extended in 1899.

An important prehistoric site which formerly occupied a promontory projecting into the harbour of Taranto, southeast Italy; it was destroyed, after excavation, when the port was extended in 1899. The site was first occupied during the Late Neolithic by people using Serra D’Alto ware. It was then abandoned but resettled in the mid-2nd millennium BC by a community of the Apennine Bronze Age culture. A great wealth of material of the 14th, 13th and 12th centuries BC was found, including much bronze work, and pottery of Mycenaean type. Archaeologists are in disagreement as to whether there was a Myceneaean colony here or whether, as is perhaps more probable, there was a native settlement (perhaps with a small enclave of Mycenaean merchants) trading between the Aegean and the communities of northern Italy and central Europe. As the site has now been destroyed and the excavation records are unsatisfactory, this problem is likely to remain unresolved. After the collapse of the Mycenaean world, the community at Scoglio del Tonno continued to exist and indeed to trade with the Greek world, though on a much reduced scale. It survived until the foundation of the Greek colony of Taras in 706 bc.