The Euboeans settlers, Chalcis and Eritreans, landed in the first half of the eighth century, settled northwest on the height of Mount Vico of the island, surrounded on three sides by the sea and connected to it by a wild access, location of the optimal conditions for a settlement to which was given the name Pithecusa.
In addition to reasons of defense, the choice had to be determined by the existence of two harbors landing at the base of the promontory which made easier the maritime activities and business of the new colony.
More than likely it appears, therefore, that Pithecusa, at least in the first half of its foundation, has assumed the role of maritime and commercial emporium. This, however, should not ascribe the absence, in the island of earlier settlements: the same town of Monte Vico, in fact, had been continuously inhabited from the Bronze Age.
Fragments of Mycenaean pottery, dating from the fifteenth and fourteenth centuries, found in the coastal strip between Porto d'Ischiaand Casamicciola precisely on the hill of Castiglione, feel, indeed, pre-existing links with the Aegean world. The topography of Pithecusa is configured with: downstream from the headland to the north-east, the harbor and a small inhabited build up area (now Lacco) on the height of the Ascending City up to the Acropolis, where the presence of an archaic temple is documented by the remains of tiles and frames, at the foot of the Acropolis, in the north-west, still a harbor and the valley of S. Montano, area suitable for the location of the necropolis.
