Sardinian Ancient Peoples and Ruins
Excavations on Italy’s Island Show 300 Millennia of Settlement
Nov 10, 2008
Recent excavations in Sardinia (Sardegna) have proven human type settlement on the island as long ago as 300,000 years, extending its history by 150,000 years. Closer to Tunisia than to Rome, the island has witnessed millennia of invasion and cultural changes.
Prehistory: The Stone Age
Archaeologists have found evidence of Paleolithic peoples in the form of stone tools and worked bone. By the Neolithic period, about 4-6,000 BC, pottery was being produced and evidence of elemental agriculture has been found. This civilization developed over time through the Final Neolithic period in the Ozieri culture. During that time an increasingly complex society left relics of circular burial centers, standing stone monuments (menhirs) and pottery. Close to 2,800 BC the inhabitants began to mine and work copper leading to the Bronze Age. The National Archeological Museum of Cagliere has a fine collection of items from this period.
The Nuragic Period
At a time around 1,600 BC the Nuragi culture began to form, taking its name from Nuraghe, stone towered buildings of which more than 8,000 still dot the hillsides. Both simpler forms with a single tower and more complex forms of several towers with surrounding stone huts can be found. A good example of the former is the Nuraghe Albucciu at Arzachena, where a low entrance provides access to a couple of tiny chambers and a stair leading to the top of the tower. One of the larger remains is Su Nuraxi, at Barumini. The Tomba di Gigante Coddu Vecchiu at Arzachena is a fine example of a burial tomb from this period and the Holy Well of Santa Cristina, at Paulilatino, is a fine example of a 3,500-year-old religious complex. Excavations have revealed extensive development of bronze for weapons, and statuary used in connection with religious ceremony.
Phoenician, Carthaginian and Roman Influence
The trading people of Phoenicia acculturated Sardinia through trade and the introduction of new concepts of civil society not by conquest. They established cities at several points along the coast between 900 and 700 BCE. One of these was Nora, believed to have been a Nuragic site, on the south coast at present day Pula and its chief port at Tharros near Oristano on the west coast. The Phoenician culture ceded to Carthaginians in 509 BC. In 238 BC Carthage gave up control of the island to Rome as a result of losses in the Punic Wars. The excavated ruins at Tharros and at Nora provided outstanding examples of the development of ancient cities in the Mediterranean basin. While primarily a Roman city, the ruins of Nora show definite elements of earlier cultures and building techniques.
From Byzantium to Italy
In the middle of the 5th century AD Rome lost to the Vandals who dominated until Justinian established the Byzantine era in 534. This was the period of Christianization and its monuments are its churches. A fine example is San Giovani di Sinis in Cabras. A period of independence, known as the Giudicata, lasted from the 11th century until to early 13th century when Genoa and then Pisa exerted increasing influence. Romanesque architecture began to be seen from the mid 12th century and two good examples are the Church of Santa Maria di Sibiola, 11th century, and the church of Sant Pantaleo (11th-13th centuries, both in Serdiana. A fine example of the 13th century Pisan-influenced church is the Church of Sanctissima Trinita di Saccargia, east of Sassari on Route 597. Aragon conquered Sardinia in 1410, a dominance that lasted until 1714-18 when control passed first to Austria and then to the House of Savoy, the Kings of Italy.
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