SUMMARY. - MINIMA THAPSIANA. SOME REMARKS ABOUT THAPSOS RESIDENTIAL QUARTER’S CHRONOLOGY - This paper is faced
with the problem of the relative and absolute chronology of the fi rst two phases of Thapsos’ residential
quarter. It is well known that the phasing put forward by the excavator (G. Voza) is in contrast with the
traditional Sicilian cultural sequence outlined by L. Bernabò Brea. In Bernabò Brea’s view, the Thapsos
period (Middle Bronze Age), spanning from XIV BC down to the fi rst quarter of XIII BC, was followed by
the Pantalica North period (Late Bronze Age) from about middle XIII BC onward. Voza, on the basis of his
excavations at the Thapsos’peninsula between the 70’s and 80’s of the past century, isolated three
different phases: the fi rst two belonging to the Thapsos period, the third to the Final Bronze Age. The fi
rst, characterized by round huts with annexes, was dated to the XIV BC, while the second, with its
rectangular complexes, was ascribed to the XIII-XII BC. In this view, Thapsos’ second phase was
contemporary to the Pantalica North culture. It becomes clear that the topic of the chronology of
Thapsos’ residential quarter is of utmost relevance in the frame of the cultural sequence in eastern Sicily.
This paper is aimed to ascertain if and how the chronology of the ceramic items from Thapsos’ residential
quarter could shed a new light on the problem of Voza’s phasing. The author attempts to take into
account distribution, provenance and possible chronology of both imported (Maltese-Borg in-Nadur) and
local wares (the latter bearing Mycenaean-inspired decorative motives), in order to critically review the
absolute and relative dating of the structures. He proposes a chronology that is alternative, but no always
incompatible, to that previously put forward. The author proposes: a) to lower down to the early XIII BC
(parallel to the early MIC IIIB) the chronology of the later use of Thapsos’ northern quarter with round huts
(Voza phase I); b) the items from the Complex B are not consistent with a date later that the early XIII BC;
the possible provenance of these items from a use-level of the structure leads to believe that this Complex
was build during the XIV BC, claiming, therefore, a dating earlier than the traditional one as well as a
period of coexistence between round huts and complex structures; c) in lack of any good chronological
hint, the Complex A is dated on the grounds of its typological consistence with the Complex B; d) only for
the Complex C it can be assumed a period of re-use during the Final Bronze Age. Finally, these remarks
are related to other data. On the one hand, it is stressed the synchronism between the construction of the
Complexes and the social stratifi cation in act in the Thapsos’ society during the same period; on the other
hand, it is stressed the existence at Cannatello (Middle Bronze Age settlement) of a situation similar to
that of Thapsos, as far as the coexistence of round and rectangular structures during the XIV BC is
concerned.