Anna Depalmas

The Nuragic People: Their Settlements, Economic Activities and Use of the Land, Sardinia, Italy

Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean (Fig. 11.1) and is well-known for its Nuragic society, which developed in the Bronze and Early Iron Ages from 1900 to 730 BC (Nuragic Age, Table 11.1).

Ripostiglio di bronzi della prima età del ferro a Sant'Imbenia - Alghero (Sassari)

During the 2010 excavation at the nuragic settlement of Sant’imbenia (Alghero) an important hoard was found, containing 42 bronze and copper elements. the archeological complex of Sant’Imbenia is located in the territory of Alghero, in the inner part of the Porto Conte bay, very close to the sea shore. The position was chosen in order to control the natural harbour, that, together with the natural resources in the surrounding area (copper, iron, silver deposits, pastures, cultivable land), made the village a strategically and favourably placed centre, in contact with different zones of the Mediterranean sea (the Aegean, the Iberian Peninsula, levantine centres, Phoenician colonies, tyrrhenian area). The material evidence is proof that, at least from the 9 th century B.C., there were relationships with foreign people, including the Phoenicians, who met, traded, and lived together in the nuragic village. the excavations of the last three years have uncovered new parts of the village, revealing house structures, and a big public space, paved with stone slabs, which forms a sort of square onto which the entrances of many buildings open. The hoard was found hidden in the floor of a circular building, that overlooks the paved square. It was contained in a vase, closed by a circular shale stone slab, buried in a pit close to the walls of the structure. The vase is a medium sized ovoid dolium , with a flared rim, convex bottom and three decorative “X” handles. there are not many comparisons in the nuragic pottery repertoire, but the type of handle is well known amongst nuragic iron Age pottery products. The vase contained a complex of metal objects weighing 41.239 Kg: a Monte Sa idda type bronze sword, 8 flanged bronze axes, 14 circular copper ingots and 19 copper ingots fragments. the sword, that has its main comparison in Southern Spain, is fragmentary with most of the blade missing. Flanged axes are represented in different shapes and sizes, all recognizable among the main varieties of this kind of carpentry tool known in Sardinia during the Final Bronze Age and the early iron Age. the ingots are all almost circular, divided into different types: plano-convex, biconvex and flat. Most of them are fragmented. they are commonly found throughout the whole Bronze Age and the early iron Age. The bronzes seem to have been placed inside the vase in a particular way (ingots on the bottom and axes on the top), probably in order to prevent damage, especially to those items such as the axes and the sword, which would have been most vulnerable. From a study of the vase and its contents we can assume that the hoard was buried around the middle of the 8 th century B.C.

Non-destructive microstructural characterization of a bronze boat model from Vetulonia

In this paper, we present the results of the archaeometric analysis performed on a nuragic bronze statuette, representing a boat model decorated with zoomorphic figurines, made in Sardinia during the early Iron Age. The bronze boat model was found in the Etruscan tomb of the Duce located in Vetulonia (Italy) and dated no later than the second half of the seventh century bc. The Vetulonia boat model represents an extraordinary example of this type of objects, exhibiting a high level of complexity from the manufacturing point of view and an unusual choice of the subjects represented by the figurines. The study was performed by means of Time of Flight Neutron Diffraction, a non-destructive method able to give us quantitative information on phase composition and microstructure.

The coastal fortification of Cape de Forma (Menorca, Spain): petrophysical characterization and alteration of stones and ancient mortars

The site of Cap de Forma is frequently mentioned in the cartography of the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly the tower of Es Canutells. The archaeological site of Cap de Forma is on a coastal cape, and consists of a main cyclopean monument, which closes off an isthmus, a necropolis of rock-cut tombs (cuevas) dug out the cliff overlooking the sea and a second, very degraded, more central area. The promontory rises above the sea, with cliffs of more than 30 m in height. On the isthmus, the large elongated rectangular cyclopean construction protects the entrance from the interior. It is not a Talayot, at least not in the common sense of the term, as the building is different from the known types of this class of monument. The external wall is roughly built. It consists of local limestone slabs, mainly placed horizontally but with some vertical ones juxtaposed among them. Once one passes this wall, through an opening near the edge of the cliff, one can access the south of the structure. Here the slow collapse of the monument and its use as a modern military lookout post have combined to give the walls an untidy appearance. It consists of massive parallel walls arranged roughly in large steps, alternating with piles of small stones. Some walls were probably destroyed by the troops stationed in the adjacent fortified manor house in the 18th century AD, were also detected in this space. In a open space, between two living areas (central and eastern spaces), a large cylindrical hollow carved into the limestone was found in a depression filled with small stones. This may well have been a cistern for collecting rainwater for the resident community. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/FORTMED2015.2015.1758

Aspetti insediativi e funerari del territorio di Aidomaggiore (Oristano)

La presente nota intende illustrare, in forma sintetica, i risultati preliminari di un’indagine attualmente in corso nella Media Valle del Tirso, volta allo studio delle problematiche legate al rapporto – analizzato in senso diacronico – tra occupazione umana e territorio e indirizzato all’individuazione e all’analisi dei modelli di organizzazione spaziale degli insediamenti. In questa fase della ricerca l’attenzione si e focalizzata su un’area campione vasta circa 42 Kmq, racchiusa tra alcuni affluenti di sinistra del Tirso: il riu Merchis ad ovest, il riu Siddo a sud ed il riu Iloi ad est, zona che rientra per la quasi totalita entro i limiti amministrativi del comune di Aidomaggiore.

La ceramica pertalaiotica a Minorca in relazione con la Sardegna e l'area orientale del Mediterraneo occidentale

Il confronto e la parallelizzazione degli aspetti culturali della preistoria sarda e di quella balearica e divenuta un elemento ricorrente a partire dagli studi di Alberto Ferrero de La Marmora (La Marmora 1840) e dai riferimenti a questi compiuti da Martorell Pena (Martorell Pena 1879). Queste comparazioni, condotte essenzialmente nell’ambito architettonico, e in gran parte basate su concezioni diffusioniste (Childe 1949), non sempre corrispondono ad una conoscenza diretta dei fenomeni bensi di frequente sono il risultato di uno studio bibliografico (Bosc Gimpera 1935, Bosc Gimpera, Colominas Roca 1935, Comas 1936, Martinez Santolaria 1935).