Nuragic Sanctuary at

Santa Vittoria SERRI

On the south-western extremity of the Serri giara (plateau), at the peak of the natural overhang which faces the town of Gergei, there is the little country church of St. Maria della Vittoria which gave its name to the grandiose nuragic complex which lies next to it and which dominates the horizon all around; towards the southeast the plateau narrows into a narrow saddle of about 30 metres in width near the ruins of the church of St.Sebastiano, beyond which it widens again to where the modem town of Serri lies, the only town to be built on the giare which in nuragic times were the preferential sites for a settlement.

The excavations carried out by Taramelli from 1907 to 1929 revealed a vast complex of buildings over an area of about four hectares, to which the archaeologist gave names on the basis of the structural characteristics and particular discoveries.

To the north, flanked by a wall, lies the Casa del Capo ("Chief’s House"), a large circular hut with a paved atrium and lateral benches; to the east of this and nearly at the centre of the complex lies the Recinto delle Feste ("Enclosure of the Feasts"), a vast elliptical enclosure (73x50 metres) onto which various rooms open starting from the entrance at the east: the Casa del Focolare ("House of the Hearth"), the Recinto con Sedile ("Enclosure with the Seat"), the Recinto dell’Ascia ("Enclosure of the Axc"); on the northern side there is a zone divided into smalì quadrangular rooms which are open on one side towards the centre, up to the Fonderia ("Foundry"); along the southern side there is the portico, up to the Cucina ("Kitchen"): as one can sec, the interpretation of Taramelli was that of a great cumbessia, or rather a complex which had the function of hosting the pilgrims who came to participate in the feasts in the sanctuary.

The group of buildings around the church of S. Vittoria is that which has visibly been the object of various constructional phases and therefore it is not easy to interpret. Where the so-called Torre con Feritoie ("Tower with Slits") lies there had been a nuraghe with a passage which, on the basis of the material discovered in recent excavations in this area which consisted of fragments of pottery with metope decoration, dates to the Middle Bronze Age; walls led off from it such as the defensive wall which led up to the Casa del Capo; these were later incorporated in other structures.

Of this group of buildings gathered around the south-western spur of the plateau there are also the Tempio Ipetrale ("Hypaethral Temple") which has a square plan and isodoma structure, the Capanna del Sacerdote ("Priest’s Hut"), the Recinto Circolare con Sedile ("Circular Enclosure with Hut"), the Via Sacra, the Muro di Cinta ("The Boundary Wall") and the Capanna d’Ingresso ("Entrance Hut"). The heart of this part of the sanctuary is the Tempio a Pozzo ("Well Temple") whith lies within an elliptical enclosure (19 x 13 metres) accurately built with an isodoma structure and well-squared basalt and limestone hewn stones which were also used, as in similar sacred buildings, with decorative polychromes; it is composed of a circular plan of 2,1 metres in diameter and 3 metres in height with a slightly conical shape as a result of the progressive overhang of the rows; acccss is provided by a stairway of 13 steps preceded by a rectangular atrium with lateral benches paved with limestone, and with a table or altar for libations; the hole in the centre of the altar is connected with a transversal channel which led to the outside.

Other buildings are grouped in the south-east, east and north-west, including the Recinto dei Supplizi o della Giustizia ("The Torture or Iustice Enclosure"), the Recinto delle Riunioni ("The Meetings Enclosure") or the "Curia", the Isolato del Doppio Betilo ("The Block of the Double Sacred-Stone"), the Recinto della Mensa ("The Table Enclosure"), etcetera.

Many of these rooms do not suggest a domestic use; the consìructional canons are without a doubt those typical of the Nuragic age, the majority of which date to the Late and Final Bronze Ages and the Early Iron Age (about l3th-8th centuries BC) and the group of buildings supports the hypothesis that this was a large federal village-sanctuary which reunited the surrounding populations around a cult site.

E. L. S.

The complex can be reached by crossing the town centre of Serri and then continuing onto the plateau. In the town, in front of the Town Hall, there is the Antiquarium which has been set up with didaetie panels and which acts as an introduetion to the archacologicai arca. The material found during the excavations by Taramelli is houscd in the National Archaeological Museum in Cagliari.

Directors of the research: dott.ssa Fulvia Lo Schiavo and dott.ssa Maria Gabriella Puddu.