Su Nuraxi di Barumini — Il nuraghe e la civiltà sarda del Bronzo
Su Nuraxi di Barumini (UNESCO 1997, rif. 833) è il sito nuragico più importante della Sardegna: una torre tronco-conica in basalto di ca. 1500–900 BCE, circondata da un villaggio di 200+ capanne circolari, è l’espressione più compiuta della civiltà nuragica — un’architettura senza paralleli nel Mediterraneo dell’Età del Bronzo.
At a glance
Su Nuraxi di Barumini Sardegna Italy (39.7025 N 9.0186 E UNESCO WHS 1997 reference 833: the most precisely Barumini zone Medio Campidano Sardinia: the site (the Su Nuraxi (the “nuraxi” (the nuraghe): in Sardinian, “su nuraxi” means simply “the nuraghe”: the Sardinian name for the stone towers that are unique to Sardinia): the complex includes: the nuraghe (the main tower: height today ca. 14.7 m; original height ca. 18.6 m; base diameter ca. 14 m; constructed of large basalt blocks without mortar (dry-stone technique): the internal chamber (the “tholos”: a corbelled dome built by progressively projecting each course of stones inward until they meet at the top): the bastionatura (4 secondary towers added ca. 1000 BCE, connected by curtain walls forming a courtyard); the village (the Bronze Age village that developed around the nuraghe: ca. 200 circular huts (the “capanne”) of varying sizes: the “capanna delle riunioni” (the assembly hut: circular, with stone benches along the walls: the largest hut, used for communal meetings): the village was inhabited from ca. 1500 BCE to ca. 700 CE (late antiquity)): the discovery (the site was discovered in 1949 CE by the Sardinian archaeologist Giovanni Lilliu (1914-2012 CE): excavations from 1950-1956 CE).
Key facts
- La civiltà nuragica (1800–238 BCE) e il Nuraghe Su Nuraxi: the nuragic civilization (the “Civiltà Nuragica” (ca. 1800-238 BCE: the Bronze and Iron Age culture of Sardinia that built approximately 7,000 nuraghi (the singular form is “nuraghe”: the plural “nuraghi”)): the function (the function of nuraghi is still debated: the leading hypotheses include (i) military towers for territorial control; (ii) sacred/religious structures (the association of nuraghi with sacred wells (the “pozzi sacri”) suggests a ritual function); (iii) elite residences for the Bronze Age Sardinian aristocracy; (iv) a combination of functions (the “nuraghe as castle-church-palace”): the uniqueness (the nuraghe is absolutely unique to Sardinia: there is no similar building type in any other Mediterranean culture of the Bronze Age: the closest parallels are the Scottish brochs (the Iron Age circular towers of Scotland: much later in date, ca. 300 BCE – 200 CE) and the talayots of Minorca and Majorca (also later, ca. 1400-800 BCE): the technology (the dry-stone corbelled dome (the “tholos”) was mastered independently in Sardinia, Ireland (Newgrange, ca. 3200 BCE), Greece (the “Treasury of Atreus” at Mycenae, ca. 1250 BCE), and Jordan (the Khazali dam, ca. 4th century BCE): the nuragic builders had no writing system, no metal tools (only stone and antler), and no wheeled vehicles))
- GPS: 39.7025° N, 9.0186° E (Barumini, Medio Campidano, Sardegna)
History
Da 1500 BCE a UNESCO 1997 (the most precisely Su Nuraxi history: the nuragic period (ca. 1500-900 BCE: the construction of Su Nuraxi in the Middle Bronze Age (the “Bronzo Medio” in Italian archaeology: ca. 1600-1300 BCE): the central tower was completed ca. 1500-1300 BCE: the bastionatura (the 4-tower defensive enclosure) was added ca. 1000-900 BCE (the Late Bronze Age, the “Bronzo Recente”): the village development (ca. 1200-700 BCE: the maximum expansion of the nuragic village): the Phoenician period (ca. 750-238 BCE: the Phoenicians colonized the coastal areas of Sardinia from ca. 800 BCE; the interior remained nuragic): the Roman period (238 BCE: Rome conquered Sardinia from Carthage: Su Nuraxi was still inhabited in the Roman period (the Roman period huts overlie the Bronze Age ones: coins and Roman pottery found in excavation): the village continued to be used until ca. 700 CE (Byzantine period)): the discovery (1949 CE: the site was identified by Giovanni Lilliu under a large artificial hill (the “cuccuru”, the “hillock”): the entire site had been buried under several meters of sediment that had accumulated over 1,000 years of abandonment): the UNESCO inscription (1997 CE, reference 833: the first (and so far only) prehistoric site in Sardinia on the UNESCO list).
What you see
Il nuraghe principale (torre tronco-conica: la camera a tholos (volta a corbello): le scale interne di pietra che portano ai piani superiori (visitabili): la “camera dell’ingresso” al piano terra (4 nicchie nelle pareti): la “camera superiore” al primo piano); la bastionatura (il recinto di 4 torri collegate: il cortile centrale con il pozzo sacro (la fonte di acqua all’interno del recinto difensivo)); il villaggio nuragico (le 200+ capanne circolari in basalto: la capanna delle riunioni (la più grande: 27 m di diametro; seduta in pietra): le capanne dei fabbri (i forni circolari per la fusione del bronzo); le capanne degli stoccatori (le macine di pietra per cereali)); il museo civico di Barumini (Casa Zapata: le anfore, i bronzetti (le statuine votive nuragiche in bronzo: guerrieri, animali, barche), i pesi da telaio, le ceramiche).
Practical information
- Biglietti: €15 con audioguida; visita guidata obbligatoria (partenze ogni 30 min): 9:00-19:00 (estate), 9:00-17:00 (inverno)
- Tempo suggerito: 1.5h per la visita guidata + 30 min per il museo Casa Zapata
- Scarpe: le superfici sono irregolari (pietra basaltica); scarpe comode e chiuse obbligatorie; il sito è parzialmente non accessibile alle sedie a rotelle
Getting there
Con l’auto da Cagliari (50 km, 45 min via SS131 + SP35): non raggiungibile in treno (la stazione più vicina è Sanluri, 20 km, con cambio bus): aeroporto di Cagliari-Elmas (CAG, 55 km).
Nearby
- Cagliari (50 km): il quartiere Castello (il “quartiere dei Pisani” del XIII sec. CE); il Museo Nazionale Archeologico (la più grande collezione di bronzetti nuragici del mondo)
- Nuraghe Losa (Abbasanta, 45 km): il secondo sito nuragico più importante della Sardegna (1500-900 BCE)
- Villanovaforru (15 km): il Museo Genna Maria (le stoviglie nuragiche e la ricostruzione di una capanna)
Gallery
Sources
- UNESCO World Heritage List: “Su Nuraxi di Barumini”, rif. 833 (whc.unesco.org/en/list/833)
- Lilliu, Giovanni: “La civiltà dei Sardi dal neolitico all’età dei nuraghi”, ERI Torino, 1967
- Webster, Gary S.: “A Prehistory of Sardinia 2300-500 BC”, Sheffield Academic Press, 1996
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