The first inhabitants of Sicily were the Sicani of Lybico-Iberian origin.
After them, arrived the Siculians.
Historians are still discussing today whether or not the second ones were descendants of the first ones.
In other words, probably they expressed two moments of the same Sicilian civilisation, which went on from about 2,000 B.C. to the 5th century B.C.
The long series of invasions, started in the 12th century B.C. with the Elymians, supposedly emigrants from Troy in Asia Minor.
They came by sea and settled around Trapani in the North-West part of the island. More or less around the same period, the Phoenicians came from Syrua, also by sea. They were the most expert merchant-navigators of ancient times and they established trading outposts in Motya, in the westerly extremity of the island. Later, they went as far as Palermo.
In the 8th century B.C., they were followed by their direct descendants, the Carthaginians, who transformed their possessions into strongholds.
