Contact: Prof. Dr. Constance von Rüden
As a landscape-archaeological study, the project has been investigating the inhabitant’s daily routines within the realm of subsistence economy and exchange as well as their involvement in ritual, social or political activities since 2017. Through remote sensing, geomorphological investigation, survey, excavation, experimental approaches and underwater investigations the project reconstructs the communities’ taskscapes and their spatial layout to trace the specific land- and seascape appropriation of the inhabitants and to carve out their possible perceptions and meanings. It hence has the potential to break the almost stereotypical idea of the Nuragic population as mountaineers and herdsmen, restricted to pastoral life and averted from the sea, which is often perpetuated in literature and touristic commercialization and has thus been partially incorporated into narratives about local identity.
While Sardinia’s participation in a wider Mediterranean sea-born web is well-known, the way in which the Nuragic population was involved is rather unexplored. It remains an open question whether the inhabitants actively shaped these networks or were rather passive consumers. As the latter has been often implicitly assumed, the study aims to illuminate the Nuragic involvement in the maritime world and sea-born interrelations through the investigation of the micro-region of the islet of Sant’Antioco at the South-western coast of Sardinia. In fact, Sant'Antioco offers an astonishing density of prehistoric and Nuragic structures, especially in the southern part around the Canai plain, which are currently analyzed with a focus on the sensory engagement with the landscape. The inhabitants of Sant’Antioco already took advantage of the maritime character of the islet in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods as can be shown by a sea-born network reflected in the jasper and obsidian distribution. In the later Nuragic period the sea orientation of the Nuraghe S’Ega Marteddu at Maladroxia, Cala Bianca, or Porto di Triga supports a similar assumption for the protohistoric period. Such a maritime landscape has never been systematically analyzed in Nuragic archaeology. Therefore, the project aims to fill this gap and focus on this unique feature as part of a landscape-archaeological approach.
In addition to the general photographic and graphic documentation, the pottery from the excavation contexts will also be analyzed with regard to its production method and mineralogical composition. A raw material survey was carried out in cooperation with Dr Nadja Melko and Dr Frank Gfeller (ArchaeoLytics) in order to record ceramic production and possible circulation at Sant'Antioco. In this context, several promising sediments were sampled and subsequently processed experimentally. The next step will be to compare the various samples with the prehistoric pottery.
A systematic survey was used to identify sites from the (Sub-) Ozieri phase (Neolithic/Chalcolithic) to the Roman period. The aim was to gain a better understanding of the spatial arrangement of sites and the diachronic changes in the settlement system on the basis of the concentrations of archaeological finds recorded.
The so-called villaggio is part of the 'Grutt'i Acqua complex' and is situated on a plateau whose western edge is dominated by two rocky outcrops on which two nuraghi are located. It is characterized by an astonishing density of finds and particularly well-preserved wall structures. During the 2017 and 2018 campaigns, a large part of the area was cleared of vegetation and the first structures were documented. The excavations in the northern area began in 2019 with two trenches. Below the humus layer, a massive layer of debris was uncovered, which is connected to the destroyed nuraghe above. The examination of the findings suggests a dating to the Recent to Final Bronze Age.
In the 2020 and 2021 campaigns, the main focus was on the investigation of the structure in trench 2, Capanna C, which had already been partially recorded in 2019. The finds of the naviform structure, whose shape is typical of the Middle Bronze Age, indicate that it functioned as a dwelling. With an additional sampling strategy focusing on micro-morphology and botanical remains, it is now possible to gain an insight into a Nuragic household with the associated living conditions and resources. The ceramic material currently suggests a settlement from the Late Middle to Recent Bronze Age, which is consistent with the architectural evidence. This suggests that the material actually represents the largely unknown formation phase of the Nuragic period. On the basis of these finds, we can thus reconstruct practices that allow us to better understand the use and perception of the landscape by the inhabitants of the site, especially during the early Nuragic period.
Other architectural structures were discovered around Capanna C (trench 1 and 4), but their investigation is still at an early stage. Investigations have also been carried out on the nuraghe itself (trench 3), but their analyses are also still pending.
Based on the results regarding the seascapes from the prospection of some nuraghi - facing the sea - geomorphological studies were carried out already in 2022 in collaboration with Schneider Environmental Reconstruction, which indicate environmental changes in the bays. The project therefore aims to connect the high density of Nuragic monuments with its favorable geostrategic location and natural harbors. In addition to its ongoing efforts, the seascapes of the island will be examined underwater archaeologically in collaboration with a team from the Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies at the University of Haifa - under the direction of Prof. Dr Assaf Yassur-Landau - in order to locate possible harbors, anchorages or shipwrecks.
In order to better distinguish the different phases of use, in particular the post-nuragic use, the surface findings and the architectural structures of the entire area were examined with regard to their archaeological and, in particular, ethnographic parallels. In the central area of the villaggio there are at least two huts with enclosed courtyards, the dating of which, according to previous research, can be regarded as predominantly modern, but also shows evidence of subsequent use and overbuilding of Nuragic structures. The archeological finds show two main phases of occupation, which, in addition to the Bronze Age, also include a strong frequentation in the course of the 19th and 20th centuries. The construction and form of some of the architectural structures also point to a re-structuring of the area, which is linked to pastoral use and the leasing of the land. This diachronic view of the villaggio illustrates the special significance of the site, which the inhabitants of the Canai plain visited for thousands of years. Further details will soon be available in the forthcoming publication „Taking place in Grutt’i Acqua. Agropastoral appropriation of a nuragic site in Sant’Antioco of the modern era“.
The cooperation with Il Calderone plays a central role and greatly enhances our work. The local support extends from organizational tasks and excavation work to making contact with landowners, so that it would not have been possible to achieve many of our successful results without the help of our Sardinian colleagues.
Prof. Dr. Constance von Rüden
Institut für Archäologische Wissenschaften
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Am Bergbaumuseum 31, 44791 Bochum
Raum: 0.3.10
Tel.: (0234) 32-23893
Mail: Constance.vonrueden@ruhr-uni-bochum.de
Tim Klingenberg, Kevin Spathmann, Linnea Naumann, Lucas Luigi Latzel, Dorina Rehbein, Silke Biester, Tim Teufel, Francesco Corgiolu, Nazzareno Recchia, Musa Baldeh, Rabbi Hawlader, Cristian Spiga, Marie Usadel, Yvonne Schmied, Lena Hartwich, Tim Schnieders, Myriam Legault, Maja Gori, Antonia Davidovic-Walter, Barbora Weissová, Ibrahim Barry, Philipp Vollmer, Annika Brinkmann, Judith Waltermann, Eileen Sander, Lucas-Aydin Gassen, Peter Luczak, Alessandro Corgiolu, Djibril Coulibaly, Nari Diawara, Clarissa Haubenthal, Meryem Büyükyaka, Matteo Cantisani, Mitja Musberg, Eicke Granser, Jacqueline Gödde, Evangelos Safralis, Luca Serpi, William Feffo Matturin, Doris Gerstner, Johannes Jungfleisch, Lia Alexa Berani, Milo Kruse, Dominik Zilg, Victoria Scharlau, Günai Heidarava, Goitom Tekle, Jonas Luderich, Lea Giese, Dana Klingberg, Daniel Pyka, Jessica Noffc, Leonhard Tölle, Alexander Klein, Hans-Jörg Lauffer, Nicole Boenke, Leonie Nolte, Rami Boukhenfra, Eros Suà
You are leaving our website now. Please note that this link opens an external website. This may be subject to less strict privacy policies and may collect personal information. Further information on the protection of your data can be found in our privacy policy
You are leaving our website now. Please note that this link opens an external website. This may be subject to less strict privacy policies and may collect personal information. Further information on the protection of your data can be found in our privacy policy
You are leaving our website now. Please note that this link opens an external website. This may be subject to less strict privacy policies and may collect personal information. Further information on the protection of your data can be found in our privacy policy