Archaeological evidence has unearthed dwellings and artifacts dated at 35,000 years ago.
The original population of Pantelleria did not come from Sicily, and was of Iberian or Ibero-Ligurian stock. After a considerable interval, during which the island probably remained uninhabited, theCarthaginians took possession of it (no doubt owing to its importance as a station on the way to Sicily) probably about the beginning of the 7th century BC, occupying as their acropolis the twin hill of San Marco and Santa Teresa, 2 km (1.2 mi) south of the town of Pantelleria. The town possesses considerable remains of walls made of rectangular blocks of masonry, and also of a number of cisterns. Punic tombs have also been discovered, and the votive terra-cottas of a small sanctuary of the Punic period were found near the north coast.
The Romans occupied the island as the Fasti Triumphales record in 255 BC, lost it again the next year, and recovered it in 217 BC. Under the Empire it served as a place of banishment for prominent persons and members of the imperial family. The town enjoyed municipal rights.
One of the "Sesi" on Pantelleria.
In 700 the island was conquered by the Arabs, who named it بنت الرياح Bint al-Riyāḥ 'the daughter of the winds', which represents the strong winds that arise off the north coast of Africa. In 1123Roger of Sicily took the island, and in 1311 an Aragonese fleet, under the command of Lluís de Requesens, won a considerable victory here, and his family became princes of Pantelleria until 1553, when the town was sacked by the Turks.
A Siculo-Arabic dialect similar to Maltese was the vernacular of the island until the late 18th century, when it was superseded by Romance Sicilian. However, the modern Sicilian dialect of Pantelleria contains many Arabic loanwords and most of the island's place names are of Semitic origin.
Pantelleria's capture was regarded as crucial to the Allied success in invading Sicily in 1943 because it allowed planes to be based in range of the larger island. Pantelleria was heavily bombarded, from both air and sea, in the days before the scheduled invasion, and the garrison finally surrendered as the landing troops were approaching. The capture of Pantelleria was calledOperation Corkscrew and it played a part as a vital base for Allied aircraft during Operation Husky.
Main sights
A Middle Bronze Age village was situated on the west coast, 3 km (1.9 mi) south-east of the harbour, with a rampart of small blocks of lava, about 7.5 m (25 ft) high, 10 m (33 ft) wide at the base and 5 m (16 ft) at the top, upon the undefended eastern side: within it remains of huts were found, with pottery, tools of obsidian, and other artifacts. The objects discovered are in the museum at Syracuse.
To the south-east, in the district known as the Cunelie, are a large number of tombs, known as sesi, similar in character to the nuraghe of Sardinia, though of smaller size, consisting of round or elliptical towers with sepulchral chambers in them, built of rough blocks of lava. Fifty-seven of them can still be traced. The largest is an ellipse of about 18 by 20 m (59 by 66 ft), but most of the sesi have a diameter of only 6 to 7 m (20 to 23 ft). The identical character of the pottery found in the sesi with that found in the prehistoric village proves that the former are the tombs of the inhabitants of the latter.
(Courtesy from wikipedia)