Vivara, an unknown island in the Gulf of Naples

Vivara is one of the three islands that today form the Phlegrean Archipelago. It is linked by a bridge that sustains the pipes of the aqueduct of Campania which supplies Procida and Ischia. Originally Vivara was linked to the of Santa Margherita's promontory of Procida though a falaise on the sea that, with time and washes, has sunk below sea level. The topography of Vivara-Santa Margherita, during prehistory, was, in fact, about six meters higher today. The original zone, now sunken,is today occupied by an expanse of water, called Gulf of Genito.The sinkage suggests that at the time of the prehistoric settlement the Gulf of Genito may have been an emerged, largely sandy surface. Certainly, the construction of the bridge has highly modified the original look of the old connection Vivara-Procida. these two islands form a volcanic field produced by the explosive activity of some neighbouring eruptive areas. The earliest volcanic material dates back to 55.000 years. In fact, Vivara forms the western part of the original volcano crater delimited by Santa Margherita, by the isthmus joining Vivara to Procida and by Vivara itself. The interior of the crater ha s a morphology with a steep gradient sloping down to 20 meters off Punta Mezzogiorno. The exterior sea bed is prevailingly sandy and with a low gradient containing terraced areas at a depth of10-15 meters. The coastline is very indented, with embayments which continue even below the sea level. New underwater researches have pointed out moves of emersions and floodings of Vivara in historical times and represent a starting point for new studies concerning the evolution of the landscape in relation to the uman activity. In order to understand the importance of the archaeological excavations on Vivara, we should consider the situation of Greece during the Late Bronze Age. At the end of the 17^th century BC, the Mediterranean sea saw the birth of some important cultural phoenomena: Crete led a big economic and cultural development which affected the whole Aegean basin, and togheter with the Cyclades, Crete became the driving force in an international sea trade dealing primarily in refined artifacts and metal raw materials. In the mainland Greece the changes are marked by the birth of the so called Mycenean civilization. These great developments are due to particular geographical position of Greece, situated on the frontier between East and West.

The importance of Vivara's archaeological excavations is principally due to the discovery of an important location for a proto- Mycenean port of trade, datable between the second half of the 17^th century and the first half of the 15^th century BC. These excavations could help us to study the most ancient sea contacts betwwen the Aegean world and the Western Mediterranean. Even though Vivara and Campania lacked as a whole metalliferous ore deposits, it became, during the first half of the second millennium BC, one of the main areas for metal trade in the central basin of the Mediterranean sea, and an important crossroads between East and West. The presence on the island of metalworking evidences testifies the existence of a complex trade system conveying the valuable raw materials to Vivara.

The phlegrean Archipelago was the point of arrival of raw materials, produced in the Tirrenian sea, feeding a flourishing metallurgical industry. The furnaces on the island of Vivara converted the raw materials into ready-to-use products. Remains of the metalworking have been found at Punta d'Alaca and at Punta Mezzogiorno in the shape of crucibles, slag, copper and bronze prills.

The research carried out in 1975 A.Cazzella, M.Marazzi, M.Moscoloni and S.Tusa of the University of Rome showed that the earliest settlement on Vivara dates to the end of the 18^th century BC and was mainly settled at Punta Mezzogiorno. Here were brought to light the earliest traces of metalworking. As a result of the archaeological excavation, between 1975 and 1982, at Punta d'Alaca and Punta Mezzogiorno, numerous fragments of Aegean pottery and the identification of an archaic recording system consisting in clay tokens, have proved the central position of the island in the earliest Late Elladic navigations towards the West.

The Istituto Universitario Orientale in Naples resumed the research on Vivara in 1994; in 1997, it began to explore the Western side of Vivara and now we know that this area was densely populated in the Late Bronze Age. Moreover, in 1995, in collaboration with the Technical Service for Underwater Archaeology, a project for the reconstruction of the oringinal ancient 'harbour' of Vivara was launched. Researches in this field have already produced a partial topographical survey of the sunken part of the crater.

In December1995, a department, dedicated to the Prehistoric Collections, was inaugurated at the Archaeological Museum of Naples. Three showcases are dedicated to the prehistorical culture of Vivara.

The Istituto Universitario Orientale togheter with the Istituo Suor Orsola Benincasa and the Archaeological Superintendence of Naples have created a research center, where scholars and students can study the archaeological finds of Vivara.