Sicily, archaic

The original inhabitants of Sicily are three defined groups of the Ancient peoples of Italy.

The most prominent and by far the earliest of these are the Sicani, who according to Thucydides arrived from the Iberian Peninsula (perhaps Catalonia).

Important historical evidence has been discovered in the form of cave drawings by the Sicani, dated from the end of the Pleistocene epoch, around 8000 BCE.The arrival of the first humans is correlated with extinction of dwarf hippos and dwarf elephants.

The Elymians, thought to be from the Aegean Sea, are the next tribe to migrate to join the Sicanians on Sicily.

Although there is no evidence of any wars between the tribes, when the Elymians settle in the northwest corner of the island, the Sicanians move across eastwards.

From mainland Italy, thought to originally have been Ligures from Liguria, come the Sicels in 1200 BCE; forcing the Sicanians to move back across Sicily settling in the middle of the island.

Other minor Italic groups who settle in Sicily were the Ausones (Aeolian Islands, Milazzo) and the Morgetes (Morgantina).

There are many studies of genetic records which show inhabitants of various parts of the Mediterranean Basin mixed with the oldest inhabitants of Sicily.

Among these are Egyptian, Phoenician, and Iberian.The Phoenicians also are early settlers before the Greeks.

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