Bronze Age canal. Artificial island and canals discovered during the excavation of a Bronze Age settlement. The remains of this settlement, dating from around 1500 BC, are at Poggiomarino, near present-day Naples, Italy, and are located near the coast on what was then the floodplain of the Sarno River. The wet, marshy area was initially settled using wooden stilts to raise huts above the water level. The wooden barricades and stakes seen here were then used to strengthen artificial islands and divert the water in a series of canals. The settlement was abandoned in the 6th century BC, and its remains discovered in 2002.