A major research direction is the study of islands that range from the small (Lismore in Scotland) to the medium sized (Gozo in the Mediterranean) to the substantial (Sicily in Central Mediterranean). Study of the first two of these has provided substantial samples of human development through time; they are both of limestone geology, both with substantial monuments, but illustrating considerable differences in colonisation, connectivity, complexity and colonial history. The study of Troina could be considered the study of a mountainous island within an larger island, and raises the issue of island definition, and how humans interpret the landscape around them.
