Scattered all around the landscape of Sardinia are to be seen the characteristical towers, called Nuraghi by the Sardinians. The name is thought to derive from the word nur, meaning pile or heap of stones. In fact many of the towers have been reduced to just that, using the raw material for buildings and roads like the SS131, leaving however still over 6500 of them to be admired in more or less good shape. The Nuraghi were built in the bronze age by the Proto-Sards (ancestors of the Sardinians), societies of sheepherds and farmers ¹.

Protonuraghe and nuraghe

In the earliest phase of the nuragic period the structures that were built from large rough stones resembled elevated platforms with internal corridors and stairs leading up to the surface of the platform. These have been identified as proto-nuraghi, or corridor nuraghe (nuraghe a corridoio passante) ². At some time in the early bronze age the form evolved into the simple tower structure. On top a wooden structure was placed to serve as an overhanging platform placed on T-shaped blocks. Nowadays there does not exist an intact nuraghe anymore. The simple nuraghe (monotorre) had a single chamber with a vaulted cupola called false cupola or tholos, after the similar grave structures in Mycene ³. A winding staircase within the thick walls led up to the platform. Although the towers look alike they are in fact all different in used materials and architecture, depending on the direct environment and the materials at hand. ⁴.

After the first phase of monotorri and the development of higher towers with two or three chambers the structures became more complex between the 14th and 9th century BC by placing additional towers around some of the more important nuraghi. Clear examples are the Nuraghe Losa at Abbasanta, Su Nuraxi at Barumini and Nuraghe Genna Maria at Villanovaforru ⁵. Nuraghe Losa was amplified with three towers and a wall with two lower towers. At Su Nuraxi were added four towers and a large thick wall, giving it the look of an impenetrable castle and around it lower walls with towers. The complex nuraghi would have been the centers of chiefdoms, local princes. It is very unlikely they were used as dwellings. More probable is that they were used as safe places, storage of valuable objects and weapons. ⁶.

The nuragic villages

Around some of the nuraghi the foundations of villages have been found. On the circular walls in stone a roof was placed made of poles and covered with branches and leaves. The inside was plastered with clay and even the use of cork is known. They looked much like the African huts (kraal) and there are still similar structures in use in the highlands as temporary dwellings for the sheepherds ⁷. In most of the villages a structure was found with a bench in stone around the innerside of the wall. These have been interpreted as the huts of the village council ⁸. In the center of the hut often a ritual object has been found, either a bowl for water or even a miniature nuraghe in stone. Dwellings consisted of a number of rooms around a small central courtyard with traces of all kinds of activity ranging from the preparation of bread to the melting of bronze. The village itself did not have a central open place like an agora or forum, in fact the alleys between the huts are so narrow that not even large animals could pass ⁹.

Gravestructures: The Tombe dei Giganti

Connected to the Nuraghi are the gravestructures called Tombe di Giganti. The name was derived from the popular name of the structures and has been adopted by the archaeologists. The tombs can be up to 30 meters long and were built mostly with monoliths (blocks of basalt). Some of the tombs contained more than one burial. In front of the tomb a row of flat stones enclosing a circular space were erected with in the middle, closing the tomb the largest stone with a carved front. The space in front of the tomb would have been used for rituals connected to the funeral and the worship of the ancestors ¹⁰.

Sacred places: the devotion to water

A specific type of sacred place connected to the culture of the nuraghi, but probably already in existence long before, was the sacred well dedicated to the mother goddess of the earth, the source of all life. Around these sacred wells temples, huts and villages were built in typical nuragic style with blocks more or less carved, like Sant'Anastasia at Sardara, Santa Vittoria di Serri at Serri, or even built with a mathematical precision like Santa Cristina at Paulilatino ¹¹. In all cases the underground well was reachable through a staircase and the room was covered by a tholos formed cupola. Many votive gifts, ceramics and bronze statues, have been found on the bottom of the wells ¹². With the advent of christianity many of these pagan sacred places were transformed by building small churches and continuing festivities in the name of a christian saint.

Culture, the bronze statuettes

Probably the most interesting of the cultural products of these times are the bronze statues. These have been spread to various musea in the world, foremost the Museo Archeologico Nazionale at Cagliari, found not only on Sardinian ground but even in Etruscan graves. The subject could vary from warriors and animals to votive ships ornamented with animals like birds and deer. These statues were definitely intended as votive gifts for the gods ¹³. Although Sardinia is rich in copper, copper ingots were found (oxhide form) of Cypriotic origin, testifying contacts with the Middle East going back a long way ¹⁴.

Notes:

¹ Melis 2003, p. 10
² Melis 2003, p. 8,9 and Webster 1996, p. 70 and Lilliu 1982, p. 14 and Manca Demurtas e Demurtas 1992, p. 176
³ Melis 2003, p. 10 e.v. and Lilliu 1982, p. 30
⁴ Webster 1996, p. 95
⁵ Webster 1996, p. 117, Melis 2003, p.18-19, Lilliu 1982, p. 62 e.v.
⁶ Webster 1996, p.129 e.v.
⁷ Melis 2003, p. 27
⁸ Webster 1996, p. 121
⁹ Melis 2003, p.28
¹⁰ Webster 1996, p.78-80, Melis 2003, p. 30-36
¹¹ Santillo Frizell 1992, p. 262 e.v.
¹² Melis 2003, p.39 e.v. and Webster 1996, p.147, Lilliu 1982, p.160 e.v.
¹³ Lilliu 1982, p. 207
¹⁴ Webster 1996, p.198-206, Melis 2003, p. 55-62, Lilliu 1982, p.114, Stos-Gale and Gale 1992, p. 317 e.v.

Bibliography

1. Melis, P. 2003, Civiltà Nuragica, Sassari
2. Lilliu, G. 1982, La Civiltà Nuragica, Sassari
3. Manca Demurtas, L. e S. Demurtas 1992, Tipologie Nuragiche: I Protonuraghi con Corridoio Passante, in: Sardinia in the Mediterranean: A footprint in the sea, ed. R. H. Tykot and T.K. Andrews , Sheffield, p. 176-184.
4. Stos-Gale, Z.A. and N.H. Gale 1992, New Light on the Provenience of the Copper Oxhide Ingots Found on Sardinia in: Sardinia in the Mediterranean: A footprint in the sea, ed. R. H. Tykot and T.K. Andrews , Sheffield, p. 317-346.
5. Santillo Frizell, B. 1992, Phoenician Echoes in a Nuragic Building in: Sardinia in the Mediterranean: A footprint in the sea, ed. R. H. Tykot and T.K. Andrews , Sheffield, p. 262-270.
6. Webster, G.S. 1996, A Prehistory of Sardinia 2300-500BC , Sheffield

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Index Sardinia

Sardinia, an introduction Prehistoric Sardinia The Sardinian bronze age: 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