The nuragic holy well is a typical Sardinian hypogean Bronze Age structure for the worship of the waters. Scattered throughout the island, along with the Giants' grave and the megaron temples, they testify to the deep religiosity of the Nuragic populations. These temples were a place of pilgrimage and ceremonies: it is believed that at certain times of year the various nuragic populations of the area gathered together in their vicinity.
The oldest temples were built in the style of the nuraghe, with blocks of stone not perfectly squared; over time they were built with a greater accuracy. The most common type is composed of a circular well built with blocks of stone, which was accessed by steps that descended to water level. [1] They are a clear example of the architectural mastery of the nuragics and evidence of their reverence for water sources.
In the past it was thought that they were built between the eighth and sixth centuries BC; the latest findings, however, have led archaeologists to estimate that the temples date from the time when there was a close relationship between the Mycenaean kingdoms, Crete and Sardinia (around 1300 BC). An almost certain dating comes from recent excavations in the Holy Well of Funtana Coberta, near Ballao, which lack completely Iron Age nuragic ceramics, while there are finds from the Aegean. The Well of Ballao was probably built in the late Bronze Age and abandoned some centuries later.
The nuraghe, or also nurhag in English, is the main type of ancient megalithic edifice found in Sardinia, developed during the Nuragic Age between 1900 and 730 B.C. Today it has come to be the symbol of Sardinia and its distinctive culture known as the Nuragic civilization. More than 7,000 nuraghes have been found, though archeologists believe that originally there were more than 10,000.
Domus de Janas are a type of pre-Nuragic chamber tombs found in Sardinia. They consist of several chambers quarried out by the people of the San Ciriaco through Ozieri cultures and subsequent cultures, resembling houses in their layout.
Su Nuraxi is a nuragic archaeological site in Barumini, Sardinia, Italy. Su Nuraxi simply means "The Nuraghe" in Campidanese, the southern variant of the Sardinian language.
The Nuragic civilization, also known as the Nuragic culture, was a civilization or culture on Sardinia (Italy), the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, which lasted from the 18th century BC up to the Roman colonization in 238 BC. Others date the culture as lasting at least until the 2nd century AD and in some areas, namely the Barbagia, to the 6th century AD or possibly even to the 11th century AD.
The Bonnanaro culture is a protohistoric culture that flourished in Sardinia during the 2nd millennium BC, considered to be the first stage of the Nuragic civilization. It takes its name from the comune of Bonnanaro in the province of Sassari where in 1889 the eponymous site was discovered.
The Sardinians, or Sards, are a Romance language-speaking ethnic group native to Sardinia, from which the western Mediterranean island and autonomous region of Italy derives its name.
The Perfect Fusion was the 1847 act of the Savoyard king Charles Albert of Sardinia which abolished the administrative differences between the Mainland states and the island of Sardinia, in a fashion similar to the Acts of Union between Great Britain and Ireland in 1800.
Funtana Coberta is a holy pit in Sarrabus-Gerrei, a traditional subregion of Sardinia, Italy. Dating to c. 1200–850 BC, it is included in the territory of Ballao, in the province of Cagliari. It was excavated in 1918 by Antonio Taramelli, and again in 1994 by Maria Rosaria Manunza.
The Ozieri culture was a prehistoric pre-Nuragic culture that occupied Sardinia from c. 3200 to 2800 BC. The Ozieri was the culmination of the island's Neolithic culture and takes its name from the locality where early findings connected with it have been found, the cave of San Michele near Ozieri, in northern Sardinia. The Ozieri existed contemporaneously with the Arzachena culture, sharing some similarities, and its influence also extended to nearby Corsica.
The Giants of Mont'e Prama are ancient stone sculptures created by the Nuragic civilization of Sardinia, Italy. Fragmented into numerous pieces, they were discovered in March 1974 on farmland near Mont'e Prama, in the comune of Cabras, province of Oristano, in central-western Sardinia. The statues are carved in local sandstone and their height varies between 2 and 2.5 meters.
The Arzachena culture was a pre-Nuragic culture of the Late Neolithic Age occupying Gallura and part of southern Corsica from approximately the 4th to the 3rd millennium BC. It takes its name from the Sardinian town of Arzachena.
The Pre-Nuragic period refers to the prehistory of Sardinia from the Paleolithic until the middle Bronze Age, when the Nuragic civilization flourished on the island.
The Nuraghe Arrubiu is one of the largest nuraghes in Sardinia. It is located in Orroli, in the province of South Sardinia. Its name means "red Nuraghe" in the Sardinian language, which derives from the basalt stones it had been built with.
Su Romanzesu is an archaeological site that is located near Bitti, in the province of Nuoro, Sardinia.
The Nuragic bronze statuettes are typical Nuragic Sardinian bronze sculptures of the final phase of the Bronze Age and the early Iron Age.
The Nuraghe Antigori is a nuragic complex dating back to the second millennium BC. It's located in the municipality of Sarroch, in the Metropolitan City of Cagliari.
The Giants' grave of Su Mont'e s'Abe is an archaeological site located in the municipality of Olbia, in the Italian province of Sassari.
The Nuragic sanctuary of Santa Vittoria is an archaeological site located in the municipality of Serri, Sardinia – Italy. The name refers to the Romanesque style church built over a place of Roman worship which rises at the westernmost tip of the site. The Santa Vittoria site was frequented starting from the first phase of the Nuragic civilization corresponding to Middle Bronze Age. Subsequently, from the late Bronze Age to the early Iron Age, the place became one of the most important expressions of the Nuragic civilization and today it constitutes the most important Nuragic complex so far excavated.
Nuraghe Su Mulinu is an archaeological site located in the territory of Villanovafranca, in the province of South Sardinia.
The history of Phoenician and Carthaginian Sardinia deals with two different historical periods between the 9th century BC and the 3rd century BC concerning the peaceful arrival on the island of the first Phoenician merchants and their integration into the Nuragic civilization by bringing new knowledge and technologies, and the subsequent Carthaginian presence aimed at exploiting mineral resources of the Iglesiente and controlling the fertile plains of the Campidano.