Nuragic civilization

Su Nuraxi of Barumini, included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites since 1997
Nuraghe Santu Antine in Torralba
Flag of Sardinia
History of Sardinia

The Nuragic civilization,[1][2] also known as the Nuragic culture, formed in the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, Italy in the Bronze Age. According to the traditional theory put forward by Giovanni Lilliu in 1966, it developed after multiple migrations from the West of people related to the Beaker culture who conquered and disrupted the local Copper Age cultures; other scholars instead hypothesize an autochthonous origin.[3] It lasted from the 18th century BC [4] (Middle Bronze Age), up to the Iron Age[5] or till the Roman colonization in 238 BC.[6][7][8][9] Others date the culture as lasting at least until the 2nd century AD,[10] and in some areas, namely the Barbagia, to the 6th century AD,[11][12] or possibly even to the 11th century AD.[6][13] Although it must be remarked that the construction of new nuraghi had already stopped by the 12th-11th century BC, during the Final Bronze Age.[14][15]

It was contemporary with, among others, the Mycenaean civilization in Greece, the Apennine and Terramare cultures of the Italian peninsula, the Thapsos culture of Sicily, and the final phase of the El Argar culture in the Iberian peninsula.[16]

The adjective "Nuragic" is neither an autonym nor an ethnonym. It derives from the island's most characteristic monument, the nuraghe, a tower-fortress type of construction the ancient Sardinians built in large numbers starting from about 1800 BC.[17] Today, more than 7,000 nuraghes dot the Sardinian landscape.[a]

No written records of this civilization have been discovered,[20] apart from a few possible short epigraphic documents belonging to the last stages of the Nuragic civilization.[21] The only written information there comes from classical literature of the Greeks and Romans, such as Pseudo-Aristotle and Diodorus Siculus,[22] and may be considered more mythical than historical.[23]

  1. ^ The Nuragic Civilization in Sardinia (PDF), 2 November 2023
  2. ^ Paolo Melis (2003), The nuragic civilization, retrieved 2 November 2023
  3. ^ Webster, Gary S. 2015, pp. 12–39.
  4. ^ Leighton, Robert (2022). "Nuraghi as Ritual Monuments in the Sardinian Bronze and Iron Ages (circa 1700–700BC)". Open Archaeology. 8: 229–255. doi:10.1515/opar-2022-0224. hdl:20.500.11820/cdeed7fc-54f3-48f6-9ee4-c27eaa4b2a35. S2CID 248800046.
  5. ^ Cicilloni, Riccardo; Cabras, Marco (22 December 2014). "Aspetti insediativi nel versante orientale del Monte Arci (Oristano -Sardegna) tra il bronzo medio e la prima età del ferro". Quaderni (in Italian) (25). Soprintendenza Archeologia, belle arti e paesaggio per la città metropolitana di Cagliari e le province di Oristano e Sud Sardegna: 84. ISSN 2284-0834.
  6. ^ a b Webster, Gary; Webster, Maud (1998). "The chronological and cultural definition of Nuragic VII, AD 456-1015". Sardinian and Aegean Chronology: 383–398. ISBN 1900188821. OCLC 860467990.
  7. ^ G. Lilliu (1999) p. 11[full citation needed]
  8. ^ Belmuth, Miriam S. (2012). "Nuragic Culture". In Fagan, Brian M. (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. Vol. 1: ‘Ache’—‘Hoho’. Oxford University Press. p. 534. ISBN 9780195076189.
  9. ^ Martini, I. Peter; Chesworth, Ward (2010). Landscapes and Societies: Selected Cases. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 169. ISBN 9789048194131.
  10. ^ Ugas, Giovanni (2016). "Shardana e Sardegna. I popoli del mare, gli alleati del Nordafrica e la fine dei Grandi Regni". Cagliari, Edizioni Della Torre.
  11. ^ Rowland, R. J. “When Did the Nuragic Period in Sardinia End.” Sardinia Antiqua. Studi in Onore Di Piero Meloni in Occasione Del Suo Settantesimo Compleanno, 1992, 165–175.
  12. ^ Casula, Francesco Cèsare (2017). "Evo Antico Sardo: Dalla Sardegna Medio-Nuragica (100 a.C. c.) alla Sardegna Bizantina (900 d.C. c.)". La storia di Sardegna. Vol. I. p. 281. Da parte imperiale era dunque implicito il riconoscimento di una Sardegna barbaricina indomita se non libera e già in qualche modo statualmente conformata, dove continuava a esistere una civiltà o almeno una cultura d'origine nuragica, certo mutata ed evoluta per influenze esterne romane e vandaliche di cui nulla conosciamo tranne alcuni tardi effetti politici.
  13. ^ Webster, Gary S.; Webster, Maud R. (1998). "The Duos Nuraghes Project in Sardinia: 1985-1996 Interim Report". Journal of Field Archaeology. 25 (2): 183–201. doi:10.2307/530578. ISSN 0093-4690. JSTOR 530578.
  14. ^ Nel BF numerosi indizi portano a supporre che i caratteri e l’assetto territoriale formatisi nel BM e BR, con l’edificazione dei nuraghi, subiscano mutamenti sostanziali che portano alla fine del fenomeno di costruzione di tali monumenti. Depalmas, Anna (2009). "Il Bronzo finale della Sardegna". Atti della XLIV Riunione Scientifica: La Preistoria e la Protostoria della Sardegna: Cagliari, Barumini, Sassari 23-28 Novembre 2009, Vol. 1: Relazioni Generali. 16 (4): 141–154.
  15. ^ No more new nuraghi were built after this period. Usai proposed that time and effort spent on their construction were no longer deemed proportional to their practical and symbolic use Gonzalez, Ralph Araque (2014). "Social Organization in Nuragic Sardinia: Cultural Progress Without 'Elites'?". Cambridge Archaeological Journal. 1 (24): 141–161. doi:10.1017/S095977431400002X.
  16. ^ Establishing the Middle Sea: The Late Bronze Age of Mediterranean Europe (1700–900 BC)., retrieved 9 November 2024
  17. ^ Giovanni Lilliu (2006). "Sardegna Nuragica" (PDF). Edizioni Maestrali. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2012.
  18. ^ Atzeni, E.; et al. (1985). Ichnussa. p. 5.[full citation needed]
  19. ^ "La civiltà Nuragica". Privincia del Sole (in Italian). 2007. Archived from the original on 29 May 2007. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  20. ^ Monoja, M.; Cossu, C.; Migaleddu, M. (2012). Parole di segni, L'alba della scrittura in Sardegna. Sardegna Archeologica, Guide e Itinerari. Sassari: Carlo Delfino Editore.
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ug was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Attilio Mastino (2004). "I miti classici e l'isola felice". In Raimondo Zucca (ed.). Le fonti classiche e la Sardegna. Atti del Convegno di Studi - Lanusei - 29 dicembre 1998 (in Italian). Vol. I. Roma: Carocci. p. 14. ISBN 88-430-3228-3.
  23. ^ Perra, M. (1993). La Sardegna nelle fonti classiche. Oristano: S'Alvure editrice.


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