Bronze Age hut found on Italian island

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LIPARI, Italy, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Archeologists found an ancient hut from the Bronze Age during construction work on the southern Italian resort island of Lipari, officials said.

The hut was uncovered, along with Roman-era Hellenistic slabs, during work in a town square, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The age of the hut was not immediately determined, but the Bronze Age is generally recognized as extending from 1800 B.C. to 1000 B.C.

The ancient peoples near modern-day Sicily were known to have large agricultural and pastoral settlements and to trade with Greece during the time of epic poet Homer, author of the Iliad and the Odyssey.

The Greeks later colonized Lipari in 580 B.C., calling it Meligunis.

The Bronze Age was preceded by the Neolithic Age, characterized by the rise of farming, and followed by the Iron Age.