It is not easy to write a short history of Sardinia. Nonetheless I will try to summarize the main facts. Much of the rich prehistoric past has been preserved until the present day also because Sardinia is not densely populated and many areas are abandoned where once people lived. The past has been much determined by the fact that Sardinia is an island. On the one hand it has been open to influences from outside where the sea was a factor in communication and transport, but on the other hand it could be completely isolated and developments would take their own course. In this way surprising similarities can be found with France, Spain, North-Africa and even the Middle-East and also developments unique for Sardinia not to be found elsewhere. As a consequence Sardinia has been an interesting study ground for scientists from all over the world, not in the last place archaeologists.

The neolithicum and obsidian

Although Sardinia was geologically the oldest soil of Italy, it has been populated by mankind much later than the mainland. During the last Ice-age the sea-levels dropped so low that the distance between Sardinia and the mainland was very much reduced and made a crossing over relatively easy. Near Dorgali, on the eastside of Sardinia, traces have been found of the earliest human activity on the island ¹.

During the neolithicum the Monte Arci, a former vulcano, was one of the central deposits of obsidian. This vulcanic glass was used to produce arrowheads, spearheads and cutting utensils ². In several areas of the west Mediterranean artefacts in obsidian have been found that could be traced back to different deposits on the Monte Arci.

Dating method with obsidian in archaeology.

One of the methods to date artefacts and sites in archaeology is based on the measure of hydration of obsidian. Once chipped the surface of obsidian starts hydrating when exposed to the (moist) air and creates a brownish surface. The thickness of this layer determines the age of the utensil (the time exposed to the air). An arrowhead of the neolithic will therefore never be as shiny as a fresh chipped piece of obsidian. This method was developed by the geologists Irving Friedman and Robert L Smith.

Of the various cultures in the neolithicum and calcolithicum (copper age) traces have been found consisting of earthenware, utensils in bone and stone. Often these cultures were named after the place where the first discoveries were made; culture of Ozieri (also San Michele), culture of Monte Claro ³. Of the same period are the megalithic structures called Dolmen and the Domus de Janas (houses of the fairies) gravechambers hewn in the rock that can still be seen in the Sardinian landscape ⁴. Another important site is that of the ziqqurath of Monte D‘Accoddì near Sassari, a trapezoidal structure similar to the middle-eastern ziqqurath's, that probably served as a religious centre ⁵. Even though these cultures were mainly inland of Sardinia, traces of a sub-Ozieri culture were also to be found in the plains, near Cabras at Cuccuru S'Arriu on the edge of the stagno ⁶. As in the rest of Europe (France, Spain) megalithic structures of low towers and walls appeared during the times of the culture of Monte Claro (Sa Ureci, Guspini) ⁷.

Chronological sequence after Lilliu

Paleolithicum 8 until 6000 BC
Neolithicum 6000-2500 BC
	Culture of Filiestru 6000 until about 3730
	Culture of Bonuighinu 3730-3300/3200
	Culture of Ozieri 3300/3200 - 2480
Calcolithicum (copper age) 2500-1855 BC
	Culture of Monte Claro 2480-1855
Nuragic age (Bronze age and Iron age) 1855-238 BC
	Archaic age or Proto-nuragic (period I) 1855-1490
	Middle nuragic (period II and III) 1490-900
	Late nuragic (Iron Age) (period IV) 900 - 500
	Final nuragic (Punic) from about 500-238 BC
Roman times 238 BC - 456 AD

source: Lilliu 2003, p. 14, Webster 1996, p.14

The chronology of the Nuragic age has been subject to discussion. Some archaeologists are of the opinion that the Nuragic age began much earlier (2700 BC) and ended around or even before the time the Phoenicians came to Sardinia (1000 BC), even though the nuraghi themselves were still in use after that time. Justly they question the fact that the bronze statues are ascribed to a nuragic culture or nuragic origin. The point is that a Nuragic cultural horizon is difficult to establish and it would be more correct to speak of a Nuragic age in which the Nuraghi were built and used even though in the end the people that lived around the Nuraghi may have had nothing in common with the builders ⁹.

Notes:

For further reading see the bibliography

¹ Lilliu 2003, p. 25
² Tykot 1992, p. 57 e.v.
³ Lilliu 2003, p. 14 en p. 79 e.v.
⁴ Ferrarese Ceruti 1992, p.98-99
⁵ Lilliu 2003, p.96
⁶ Santoni 1992, p. 157 e.v.
⁷ Lilliu 2003, p. 152,153
⁸ lithicum is derived from the Greek lithos meaning stone. Paleo means old and Neo means new.
⁹ Manca 2004, p. 97 en 102

Bibliography

1. Lilliu, G. 2003, La Civiltà dei Sardi, Nuoro [Republished: La civiltà dei Sardi, dal Paleolitico all'età dei nuraghi, Torino Nuova ERI 1988]
2. Tykot, R.H. 1992, The Sources and Distribution of Sardinian Obsidian, in: Sardinia in the Mediterranean: A footprint in the sea, ed. R. H. Tykot and T.K. Andrews , Sheffield, p. 57-70
3. Ferrarese Ceruti, M.L. 1992, Elementi Architettonici e del Culto Funerario nella Domus de Janas di Su Littu (Ossi-Sassari) in: Sardinia in the Mediterranean: A footprint in the sea, ed. R. H. Tykot and T.K. Andrews , Sheffield, p. 98-104
4. Manca, G., 2004, Il Nuraghe Losa e la Civiltà Nuragica, Ghilarza
5. Santoni, V., Cuccuru S'Arriu (Cabras). L'Orizzonte Eneolitico Sub-Ozieri in: Sardinia in the Mediterranean: A footprint in the sea, ed. R. H. Tykot and T.K. Andrews , Sheffield, p. 157-174
6. Webster, G.S. 1996, A Prehistory of Sardinia 2300-500BC , Sheffield

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Index Sardinia

Sardinia, an introduction Prehistoric Sardinia The bronze age on Sardinia: The phenomena of the nuraghi The Phoenicians on Sardinia Sardinia under Punic rule From the Kingdom of Sardinia to the present Sardinian culture: Oristano The natural environment on Sardinia The natural environment: southwest Sardinia Travelling information for Sardinia