Lipari, Italy
Throughout the morning we sailed across a shimmering calm sea as we made our way to Lipari, one of seven small volcanic islands which make up the small archipelago known as the Aeolians. Only two, Stromboli and Vulcano, continue to be active. They get their name from Aeolus, the god who was both the ruler of the winds and master of navigation. The islands themselves have the names of mythological personages and are mentioned in the Homeric epic, Odyssey.
Just before lunch Endeavour dropped anchor just offshore of the charming and incredibly picturesque Lipari. Following lunch we took to the Zodiacs and landed in the small and busy harbor and, after boarding coaches, were taken on a guided drive around the island. Everywhere the coastal vistas were breathtaking. Far below us the waves had eroded the volcanic rocks into tiny bays and headlands and the neighboring islands were as if set in the azure sea. We made a number of stops to overlook the scenery and took full advantage of the opportunity thus afforded to purchase samples of locally quarried obsidian. This is a volcanic glass that was used in the prehistoric past for fashioning tools and weapons. When struck with a hammerstone, flakes are produced which have an extremely fine, sharp edge. The first inhabitants of Lipari were early farmers who settled here in small villages sometime around 8,000 years ago in the Neolithic Period. Literally at the cutting edge of technology, they exploited the obsidian on a massive scale. Huge numbers of blades and projectile points were made from the quarried volcanic glass. These were exported to southern and central mainland Italy and to the islands of Sicily and Malta. In exchange the inhabitants of Lipari got quality clay for making pottery vessels, jadeite which was carved into jewelry and quern stones which were used for grinding wheat. Many trade networks linked the lands bordering the Mediterranean and beyond throughout prehistory. Items from this area have been found on a number of sites in Europe. For example the cowrie shells that were among the grave goods accompanying a Palaeolithic burial in the Dordogne came from the Mediterranean.
Back in the harbor we walked up to the Aeolian archaeological museum which houses an incredibly impressive collection of artifacts including an array of material from a second millennium BC early Bronze Age shipwreck and a reconstruction of a comparably-dated cemetery consisting of inhumation and cremation burials in varied sized pottery jars. We had time to slowly perambulate around the narrow shop-lined lanes and streets before returning to the Endeavour. The galley had prepared a special Italian buffet dinner of gastronomic delicacies, which we savoured out on deck as the ship cruised amongst the islands on our way to view Stromboli. This still-active volcano is where Prof. Hardwigg and his companions in Jules Vernes ‘A Journey to the Centre of the Earth’ resurface, during an eruption, following their subterranean explorations. We were not disappointed. Stromboli glowed orange against a spectacular black sky streaked by the Milky Way and even shot lava spouts above its rim. A fitting end to this wonderful day.
Throughout the morning we sailed across a shimmering calm sea as we made our way to Lipari, one of seven small volcanic islands which make up the small archipelago known as the Aeolians. Only two, Stromboli and Vulcano, continue to be active. They get their name from Aeolus, the god who was both the ruler of the winds and master of navigation. The islands themselves have the names of mythological personages and are mentioned in the Homeric epic, Odyssey.
Just before lunch Endeavour dropped anchor just offshore of the charming and incredibly picturesque Lipari. Following lunch we took to the Zodiacs and landed in the small and busy harbor and, after boarding coaches, were taken on a guided drive around the island. Everywhere the coastal vistas were breathtaking. Far below us the waves had eroded the volcanic rocks into tiny bays and headlands and the neighboring islands were as if set in the azure sea. We made a number of stops to overlook the scenery and took full advantage of the opportunity thus afforded to purchase samples of locally quarried obsidian. This is a volcanic glass that was used in the prehistoric past for fashioning tools and weapons. When struck with a hammerstone, flakes are produced which have an extremely fine, sharp edge. The first inhabitants of Lipari were early farmers who settled here in small villages sometime around 8,000 years ago in the Neolithic Period. Literally at the cutting edge of technology, they exploited the obsidian on a massive scale. Huge numbers of blades and projectile points were made from the quarried volcanic glass. These were exported to southern and central mainland Italy and to the islands of Sicily and Malta. In exchange the inhabitants of Lipari got quality clay for making pottery vessels, jadeite which was carved into jewelry and quern stones which were used for grinding wheat. Many trade networks linked the lands bordering the Mediterranean and beyond throughout prehistory. Items from this area have been found on a number of sites in Europe. For example the cowrie shells that were among the grave goods accompanying a Palaeolithic burial in the Dordogne came from the Mediterranean.
Back in the harbor we walked up to the Aeolian archaeological museum which houses an incredibly impressive collection of artifacts including an array of material from a second millennium BC early Bronze Age shipwreck and a reconstruction of a comparably-dated cemetery consisting of inhumation and cremation burials in varied sized pottery jars. We had time to slowly perambulate around the narrow shop-lined lanes and streets before returning to the Endeavour. The galley had prepared a special Italian buffet dinner of gastronomic delicacies, which we savoured out on deck as the ship cruised amongst the islands on our way to view Stromboli. This still-active volcano is where Prof. Hardwigg and his companions in Jules Vernes ‘A Journey to the Centre of the Earth’ resurface, during an eruption, following their subterranean explorations. We were not disappointed. Stromboli glowed orange against a spectacular black sky streaked by the Milky Way and even shot lava spouts above its rim. A fitting end to this wonderful day.
