Nuraghic Archaeology
in
Sardinia (italy)
Ancient coat-of-arms of
the Sardinia Sabauda
The unresolved riddle of seven thousand
nuraghes:
(Silanus-NU: Nuraghe
Madrone).
* Who built the nuraghes ?
* What their purpose ?
(Barumini-CA: fortress nuraghic "Su
Nuraxi")
These questions remain two critical points
in Sardinia's history.
Since the second half of the 19th century many famous archaeologists
have subjected the problem to a minute analysis, but today there is yet no
definitive answer.
(Barumini-Ca: The
"Mastio" fortress "Su Nuraxi").
In the past, Sardinian archaeology was placed in the international
limelight by first rate publications, which used the most up to date modern
research methods. With the death of its most articulate archaeologists, the region's
research lost momentum and the riddle of the nuraghes was not addressed with
new ideas or effective methodologies.
Research continued to follow the established path, supported by massive
bibliographies, and the archaeologists could withdraw into the role of a
solitary, erudite researcher caught up in complex studies which, were linked
to the specialised fields geology, anthropology, engineering, statistics,
astronomy, and even others.
(Ghilarza-OR: The fortress "N.ghe Losa").
Research was simplified not only by the copious bibliographies
available but also by the study of thousands of fragments from broken
earthenware. Other objects - often of distinct artistic value - like the
“bronzetti nuragici", various weapons, and a wealth of clay pots, were
also very helpful.
So
what has been the result of more than a century of studies and digs?
Only four - out of seven thousand - nuraghes have been unearthed. There
has been the publication of about a hundred articles and of a myriad of
shorter pieces in which the nuraghes, according to the various authors, were
built by the Egyptians, Etruscans, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Celts, oriental
architects, and natives of the island, and served as Egyptian tombs, temples of
the sun, chiefs' sepulchres, family tombs, homes, fortresses, lookout towers,
furnaces, and, according to the latest research, astronomical observatories !
(Pseudo-nuraghe "N.ghe Fontanas -
Villaputzu-CA)
This confused state of affairs, which
shows the limits of individual research, is caused by the existence of such a
large number of nuraghes (seven thousand, an almost cabalistic number whose
origin is almost as mysterious as the nuraghes' builders) and by their very
varied structural arrangement:
If one examines certain nuraghes with a similar arrangement, it is easy
to say that they were used to build a fortress (e.g. Barumini, Losa, St. Antine
).
(Torralba-SS: The Nuraghic fortress "N.ghe Santu
Antine").
However, if one examines a different kind of nuraghe, one can come to
the conclusion that they were not fortresses - being utterly indefensible - but
rather homes or temples, or maybe,
watchtowers to warn against mysterious
invaders.
Thus, given existing traces of metallurgical activity, one can also make
a case for the nuraghes being furnaces.
Therefore, the question remains, what are these strange structures ?
( San Vito - CA:pseudo-nuraghe
"N.ghe Soro").
A study of the current literature could
lead to the erroneous conclusion that all that has been built with megalithic
techniques, and in a circular arrangement, should be classed as nuraghes.
Nevertheless, in 1923, a brief article served to illuminate the nuraghe
studies of that period and to show the researchers the correct path follow to
arrive at a scientifically sound solution to the riddle: Francesco Giarrizzo,
an architect, published in the:
"Bollettino di
paletnologia Italiana" (XLII,1923, N. 1) under the title
"On nuraghe building techniques".
The results of his extensive studies of the structures. He interpreted
them not as the "containers" for earth and clay fragments, but as an
architectural phenomenon with an independent scientific and technical
significance
.
(Torralba-SS: Nuraghe de oes”).
According to Giarrizzo the term "nuraghe" does not identify
simplistically, the circular formations of stones in the mountains of Sardinia,
but rather a specific kind of construction:
A
megalithic structure built with conical stones, often squared, placed in
regular rows which grow smaller as they mount higher, giving the whole
construction a conical silhouette.
(Isili-NU: pseudo-cupola del “nuraghe
Is Paras”).
In the interior, the gradual shrinking of the
diameter of the circular, walls leads to a "pseudo-cupola" effect, a
distinguishing characteristic of the
nuraghes.
Giarrizzo's examination of a large number of these nuraghes let him
discover the rules, which the ancient
builders used to execute the pseudo-cupola or tholos :
"The diameter of the base a nuraghe's cell can be, at the most,
double the width of the cell's walls also measured at the base".
* But how can one is sure that the seven thousand "nuraghes"
are indeed similar and that they have the structural characteristic identified
by Giarrizzo?
* Have they all been measured and examined?
·
(Muravera-CA: proto-nuragne
“Nuraghe Is Calas”).
If this was not the case one could question
the results of a study based on data from only a few digs. Analysis these
result, one could conclude that this method is impractical given the very real
difficulty of unearthing, in a relatively short time, a statistically sound
number of nuraghes.
(Villaputzu-CA: Pseudp-nuraghe “nuraghe Monte
arrubiu”).
The accurate unearthing of several nuraghes can furnish detailed,
stratigraphyc data, but it can refer only to the structures in question and to
ones with similar, characteristics. However, it would be difficult to deduce a
valid historical reconstruction for all the seven thousand
"nuraghes".
In fact, the major issue of nuraghe-archaeology can be explained with
the following statement:
"Although archaeology was
born as a humanistic discipline, it has now become a scientific discipline -
today the most advance scientific techniques read our past". (Sabatino Moscati, rivista IBM n.2/ 1981).
With this statement the famous archaeologist,
in perfect harmony with the times,
shows the path of progress and reality to those with the will and courage to
abandon the methodologies of scholarly and pedantic institutions. Today,
archaeology, if taken at then highest level, does not only have as a
protagonist the archaeologist, but sees him as apart of a team of experts who
produce, each in their who field, scientifically sound data which can then be
correlated by the archaeologist. Thus one can have believable result rather than suggestive but unrealistic historical
reconstruction.
(Villaputzu-CA: proto-nuraghe nel Monte del castello di Quirra).
If the nuraghes contain the solution to
their riddle, one must, get to know them in every detail, in terms of
structural characteristics, in terms of quantity, and in terms of regional
distribution as correlated with all the environmental characteristics.
Traditional methodologies, when faced with an enormous amount of data to
examine and correlate, have tended to discourage those who would look for a
"total" solution to the enigma of the nuraghes.
In
fact, with today's technology one can create, in a relatively short period of
time, a data bank, in a computer, to record the data on the structures.
(Macomer-NU:
nuraghic “Betili” loc.Tamuli).
The government authorities have already undertaken a complete aerial
survey of the island. This consists of slides and high resolution and colour
photographs. All the chromatic information has already been classified and it
has been requested so that it can be entered into a computer.
Once a data bank about the nuraghes has been created in a computer,
there will be many new avenues to pursue. One could produce statistical data
and extrapolations, which would be inconceivable using simple filing methods.
* What, for example, is the relation among the seven thousand nuraghes
of the different styles of structure and the morphology of the surrounding
countryside?
* What is their relationship to other monuments of the same era? How are
they distinguished?
* What are the most common place-names?
* How many of the structures are in fact nuraghes and how many are "pre-nuraghes"?
* To which structural family do the
structures up to now studied belong?
These questions could be answered rapidly and accurately by a computer.
(Muravera-CA: Megalithic complex
“Cuili Piras”).
In Sardinia, in the study of megalithic
structures (pre-nuraghic) the computer has already been used with notable
success in the solution of difficult
archaeological problems in Costa Rei (Muravera-CA), there are innumerable
traces of ancient cultures. There are many megalithic structures, of which
about a dozen have been discovered and unearthed.
(Muravera-CA “Cuili Piras” :Planimetry
megalithic complex)
(Muravera-CA “Cuili Piras”: relationship alignments/Sun & Moon)
The structures composed of dolmen, narrow hall tombs, and other
megalithic pre-nuraghic formations, offer an exceptionally homogenous picture,
of the megalithic cultures which
followed each during that period in that region.
(Muravera-CA: Megalithic Complex “Cuili Piras”).
This new type of megalithic culture, which
seems closely, tied, although earlier than the nuraghic one left it most
significant monuments in the form of closely spaced groups of menhirs placed in
blocks. Using a computer, experts all the possible alignments of each menhirs
with all, of the others and with the possible positions of the Sun and the moon
(at sunrise and sunset), in that area.
(Muravera-CA:
Megalithic complex “Is Calas”).
The results were surprising: the menhir could been used as an
astronomical device to create a Solar & Lunar calendar. The equinoxes,
solstices, and lunar months are all indicated accurately by the alignment, of
the menhir. Archaeology through the
regular use advanced technology, could play a vital role in Sardinia's
socio-economic future, because it would be - for many isolated towns - the
carrier and key for tourism.
(Muravera-CA:
Megalithic Complex “Is Calas”).
(Muravera-CA:
Megalithic complex “Is Calas”).
Many places, which are of great archaeological value, but until now
inexplicably ignored, would jump into limelight of tourist's travels.
This would justify the heavy economic burden, which the state would have
to carry to support this research, which would have as a goal the creation of
institutions and activities, which are useful and interesting for everyone.
(Roberto Ledda, indipendente researcher, Ispettore Onorario della
Soprintendenza Archeologica di Cagliari per i Comuni di Muravera e Villaputzu
(CA).
E-Mail : roledda@tiscalinet.it
Internet: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Foothills/8793