L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 12 L'Italo-Americano LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE W hat comes to your mind w hen you think of Sar- dinia? Azure sea, sandy beaches, VIP resorts. If you are a bit more knowled- geable, your thoughts may also go to the island's beautifully wild inland, or to the interesting features of its dialect. But Sardinia is more, Sardinia is a heaven for the historian and the archaeologist, in a way only a handful of other places in the country are. S ardinia is the region of mystery, the home to pre-Roman civilizations of which we know almost nothing. Majestic and obscure symbols of them, as well as of the region as a whole, are nuraghi, ancient tower-like buildings peppering the Sardinian landscape, whose origins and use remain shrouded in mystery. As obscure as they may be, nuraghi have become part of the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997, as "they represent a masterpiece of Man creative genius." But what were nuraghi built for and who was the Nuragic civilization? These questions have left researchers and histo- rians baffled for decades, but today there seems to be some more clarity about it. Historians believe the Nura- gic civilization developed between the years 1800 and 238 BC. Even if they had little to no contact with other cultures, they were already there when the Pharaohs of the New Kingdom ruled over Egypt, when Athens and Sparta fought against each other and, of cours e, w hen Rome was created. Yet, these people were content with their own relatively isolated, insular life in Sardinia, based on agri- culture and farming. They did create commercial relations with other Mediterranean people all along their existence, but they ultimately remained a self suffi- cient civilization, proud and sati- sfied with their life in Sardinia. Their society was highly hie- rarchical and warriors were its leaders, along with high priests: war and religion were at the heart of this culture. This is the world of nuraghi, these are the people who built them. But why and how? Let's s tart w ith the w ord itself. Nuraghe comes from a pre-indoeuropean word, nur, which means "hollow pile of sto- nes." In the Sardinian language a similar word, nurra, still exist with the same meaning. There are als o many geographical names around the island with the same etymology, like the region of Nurra, around Alghe- ro, or the villages of Nurachi, Nuraminis and Nurri. Although only parts of these imposing buildings remain, it is simple to understand how large and majes tic they w ere and that's why their most common architectural style is known as cyclopic. Typical of it was the use of large, roughly cut polygo- nal stones, very likely secured to one another by using mud and mortar. In later centuries, nura- ghi were built using a different style, called isodomic, which preferred regularly cut stones, assembled in lines. While the nitty-gritty of their architecture was discovered and explained with relative ease, the actual use of nuraghi remains a bit of a mystery, which only adds to their charm, if you ask me. Plenty of theories have been developed through the decades, s ome more believable than others, all quite interesting to tell. Th ey w ere military con - structions This remains one of the most common theories about nura- ghi's use: they were likely to be watchtowers or fortresses, crea- ted to protect and control the surrounding area. Indeed, some archaeologists pointed out they CHIARA D'ALESSIO Another example of Sardinian archaeology: the Statue dei Giganti. They, too, belong to the Nuragic civilization (Copyright: Dreamstime) There are 7000 nuraghi in Sardinia, they are the vestiges of the ancient civilization who used to inhabit the island in pre-Roman times (Copyright: Dreamstime) S a r d i n i a , wh e r e my t h o l o g y a n d archaeology meet: Nuraghi Continued to page 14

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