The Nuragic Civilization

[alexfritz]

as mentioned before in this thead, said DNA paper now came out (pre-print)
i understand that population-genetics can be misleading when its based on modern samples and thence alludes to a host of twisted versions and interpretations of the past, but since this paper doesnt deal with modern samples but actual samples from the Nuragic(I-III/1600-800BC) and earlier periods, i wanted to ask about the context of said samples

Seulo Caves - Stampu Erdi / natural cave 1600-1300BC Nuragic I (n=1)
Perdasdefogu S'Orcu 'e Tueri / natural cave 1400-1000BC Nuragic I-III (n=5)
Seulo Caves - Su Asedazzu / small cave and rockshelter 1400-900BC Nuragic I-III (n=3)
Is Arutas / natural cave 1300-1000BC Nuragic III (n=2)
Ingurtosu Mannu / chamber tomb (giants tomb) 1200-1000BC Nuragic III (n=1)
Perdasdefogu ?S'Orcu 'e Tueri / natural cave 1200-1000BC Nuragic III (n=1)
Lu Maccioni / natural cave 1100-800BC Nuragic III (n=2)

easy to notice that alot of these samples(x1) are from caves or cave-burials _so question: was that a standad practice during the nuragic times or are these samples fringe/outliers of said civ.? one sample does however derive from a 'giants tomb' but did not differ from the rest;

now the reason behind all of that is that they also had samples from earlier periods, 4000BC neolithic for example, and what they revealed was that the nuragic sards were derived(in continuity) from these earlier pops. all the way back to the neolithic; and that would now debunk(concl.) the whole 'srdn/sherden from the east' (spec. into Nuragic III) theory, since there were no signs of breaks and of migrants, and hence manifest the whole 'srdn/sherden from sardinia' concept !unless ofcourse these samples are fringe/outliers of said culture and thus not actually repr.; so what do you reckon, are these sites repr. for the nuragic period or rather fringe?

in addendum the Bonnanaro(A-B) samples 2/3 were also from caves but 1/3 (higher than for the nuragic set) were from necropoleis (rock-carved tombs) 3x Su Crucifissu Mannu 2300-1700BC and 1x S'Iscia 'e sas Piras 2300-2100BC

 

[Massenzio]

==The Nuragic sanctuary of Matzanni, Vallermosa==
The sanctuary includes three holy wells, dating to the late bronze age and still in use during the early iron age and beyond.









An altar discovered during the excavations, similar to another one found in the sanctuary of Santa Vittoria:




Bearded bronze figurine from the site. He's carrying a bag on his shoulder and two votive offerings in his hands, a bowl and a plate, the plate is divided in four sectors, like a similar plate discovered in Nuraghe Arrubiu:







==Holy well of Bau Crabas, San Basilio==

A typical Nuragic holy well temple, it's located not far away from other two holy wells.









The tholos which lacks the final rows of stones:

 

[Massenzio]

Some fantastic photos of the holy well of Irru, Nulvi:
The structure of the temple of Irru reveals a great technical-constructive expertise and a remarkable
knowledge of hydraulics in its various functionalities, the two underground tholos chambers below the temple were connected by an adduction channel.









The tympanum of the temple:







A beautiful picture of another well temple, the well temple of Prediocanopoli (Perfugas), taken by the same photographer:

 

[Massenzio]

Predio Canopoli:





==Nuraghe San Sisto , Giave==
Large complex nuraghe with five towers, built with cyclopean stone blocks. Due to the vegetation and to the collapse of the towers it's not easy to get inside it.








This chamber is evidently obstructed by the debris


Note the elevated door, which could only be accessed with wooden ladders, since there was probably a wooden mezzanine inside the chamber. The elevated door leads to the spiral staircase leading to the upper floor.





Bronze statuette of a warrior with his corslet, greaves, horned helmet carrying a sword





It looks the Nuragic warrior from the Bible lands museum in Jerusalem:

1:50 and 2:50

The same pose can be seen in other bronzetti, such as that discovered in the sanctuary of Monte Sant'Antonio a few years ago:

 

[Massenzio]

as mentioned before in this thead, said DNA paper now came out (pre-print)
i understand that population-genetics can be misleading when its based on modern samples and thence alludes to a host of twisted versions and interpretations of the past, but since this paper doesnt deal with modern samples but actual samples from the Nuragic(I-III/1600-800BC) and earlier periods, i wanted to ask about the context of said samples

Seulo Caves - Stampu Erdi / natural cave 1600-1300BC Nuragic I (n=1)
Perdasdefogu S'Orcu 'e Tueri / natural cave 1400-1000BC Nuragic I-III (n=5)
Seulo Caves - Su Asedazzu / small cave and rockshelter 1400-900BC Nuragic I-III (n=3)
Is Arutas / natural cave 1300-1000BC Nuragic III (n=2)
Ingurtosu Mannu / chamber tomb (giants tomb) 1200-1000BC Nuragic III (n=1)
Perdasdefogu ?S'Orcu 'e Tueri / natural cave 1200-1000BC Nuragic III (n=1)
Lu Maccioni / natural cave 1100-800BC Nuragic III (n=2)

easy to notice that alot of these samples(x1) are from caves or cave-burials _so question: was that a standad practice during the nuragic times or are these samples fringe/outliers of said civ.? one sample does however derive from a 'giants tomb' but did not differ from the rest;

now the reason behind all of that is that they also had samples from earlier periods, 4000BC neolithic for example, and what they revealed was that the nuragic sards were derived(in continuity) from these earlier pops. all the way back to the neolithic; and that would now debunk(concl.) the whole 'srdn/sherden from the east' (spec. into Nuragic III) theory, since there were no signs of breaks and of migrants, and hence manifest the whole 'srdn/sherden from sardinia' concept !unless ofcourse these samples are fringe/outliers of said culture and thus not actually repr.; so what do you reckon, are these sites repr. for the nuragic period or rather fringe?

in addendum the Bonnanaro(A-B) samples 2/3 were also from caves but 1/3 (higher than for the nuragic set) were from necropoleis (rock-carved tombs) 3x Su Crucifissu Mannu 2300-1700BC and 1x S'Iscia 'e sas Piras 2300-2100BC

I don't think that any archaeologist who's led excavations in Nuragic sites subscribes to the theory that the Shardana invaded Sardinia at some point, because even though the Nuragic culture changed overtime it changed gradually with no sudden breaks, and there's no evidence of foreign settlements before the Phoenicians founded Sulky in the 8th century bc. Morover there's no evidence of violent destruction of Nuragic site during that period, and while there is very clear evidence of intense contact with Eastern Mediterranean peoples during the 14th-12th century bc, it's clear that just like the Easterners traveled West to Sardinia, the Nuragics also traveled East.
Mycenaean pottery is always found within local contexts such as Nuraghi or Nuragic settlements where Nuragic pottery always clearly prevails over the Mycenaean imports and imitations.

As for the your question about the burials, I remember reading a study about the burials in North East Sardinia, and apparently the people buried in the giants' tombs were quite healthy and well nourished while those buried in the tafoni (natural caves) were malnourished.
The problem with Nuragic burials is that the giants' tombs is that, like the Nuraghi, they were only built from 1700-1600 bc to 1200 bc, some scholars even think that no giants' tombs were built after 1350-1300 bc.
The known Nuragic burials built between 1200 and 750 bc are few, in contrast to the more than 800 giants' tombs known from the previous period. During the latter period individual burials become predominant such as those from the Mont'e Prama necropolis, or those from Antas or Sa Costa (Sardara).
According to some scholars there was a transitional period during the Recent bronze age (1350-1150 bc), when the so called tombs "A Poliandro" were built instead of the regular Giants' tombs, they were collective tombs built with large stone blocks like the Giants' tombs, but they lacked the stone stele on the front and the so called exedra is also lacking in this type of tombs.

One of the most notable examples of this type of tombs is this:

==Motrox'e Bois, Useullus==

In this "A Poliandro" tomb a wealthy funerary kit was discovered, which included fayence, glass and amber beads of the Tyrins and Allumiere types, semicircular earrings, bronze bracelets, bronze and silver rings and buttons made of bone. the tomb is dated to the Final Bronze Age (1200-950 bc), the number of corpses was 20, lower than it usually is in the Giants' tombs:






Some nice picture of the sanctuary of Su Monte, Sorradile:







The stones which were once in the walls of the circular temple:





Nuragic Bronze sculptures from Terralba, ladies with their clocaks, hats, and flounced gowns :

 

[alexfritz]

thanks alot for the answer, thats exactly what i was looking for
well it is exactly this 'transition' period (RBA/NurII) with the appereance of amber beads, foreign copper/ingots, new architectures and followed by the bronze figurines examplary of nuragic life and people (with the wariors reminiscent to the srdn sea-people) which sufficed the premise of an influx from the east, now i had no clue that also a new burial type accompanied this transition period, though thats the info i was looking for, and since the paper failed to have a single sample from said context i reckon there is still no definite answer to whether an influx did occurr or not

however as you mentioned it these tombe a poliandro (aka corridor tombs) are very reminiscent of the giant's tombs, specially the latest complexes like muraguada and tamuli who already no longer used a central stele, ?maybe then the more recent corridor tombs progressed from these latest giant's tombs by also leaving out the exedra; havent found alot on the corridor tombs yet two sites seem prominantly mentioned ena' e muros and said montrox' e bois which however seem to be from opposite ends of the island aka a rather broad phenomenon not a concentrated center as would be expected from an incoming migrant group, but do you happen to have figures or a map showing quantifying how many corridor tombs there were?

i double checked the sample MA110 from Ingurtosu Mannu and he is def. 14C/calBP dated to 1200-1050BC so ?maybe giant's tombs were no longer constructed but still used; something this paper def. did reveal was that societies on sardinia were quite patrilocal with sites throughout the time periods dominated by single paternal(Y) haplogroups but varying maternal(mitochondrial) haplogoups; what did surprise me was the usage, across the island, of natural sites/caves as burial grounds from the neolithic all the way to the LBA and correct me if im wrong here but were the first constructed burials the domus de janas(rock cut tombs) imitations of said caves or do you view this diff.?

 

[Massenzio]

thanks alot for the answer, thats exactly what i was looking for
well it is exactly this 'transition' period (RBA/NurII) with the appereance of amber beads, foreign copper/ingots, new architectures and followed by the bronze figurines examplary of nuragic life and people (with the wariors reminiscent to the srdn sea-people) which sufficed the premise of an influx from the east, now i had no clue that also a new burial type accompanied this transition period, though thats the info i was looking for, and since the paper failed to have a single sample from said context i reckon there is still no definite answer to whether an influx did occurr or not

however as you mentioned it these tombe a poliandro (aka corridor tombs) are very reminiscent of the giant's tombs, specially the latest complexes like muraguada and tamuli who already no longer used a central stele, ?maybe then the more recent corridor tombs progressed from these latest giant's tombs by also leaving out the exedra; havent found alot on the corridor tombs yet two sites seem prominantly mentioned ena' e muros and said montrox' e bois which however seem to be from opposite ends of the island aka a rather broad phenomenon not a concentrated center as would be expected from an incoming migrant group, but do you happen to have figures or a map showing quantifying how many corridor tombs there were?

i double checked the sample MA110 from Ingurtosu Mannu and he is def. 14C/calBP dated to 1200-1050BC so ?maybe giant's tombs were no longer constructed but still used; something this paper def. did reveal was that societies on sardinia were quite patrilocal with sites throughout the time periods dominated by single paternal(Y) haplogroups but varying maternal(mitochondrial) haplogoups; what did surprise me was the usage, across the island, of natural sites/caves as burial grounds from the neolithic all the way to the LBA and correct me if im wrong here but were the first constructed burials the domus de janas(rock cut tombs) imitations of said caves or do you view this diff.?

The Neolithic domus de janas, when decorated, represent the houses of the dead, with doors, wooden roofs with beams and pillars, hearths, etc

A good example of this is the necropolis of S'Incantu, Putifigari, which I have mentioned earlier, it dates to the fourth millennium bc:










But there are several other similar ones which are clearly carved to resemble houses:

Monte Airadu, Romana:




Sa Pala Larga, Bonorva:


Sant'Andrea Priu, Bonorva:

 

[alexfritz]

awesome
but since the domus de janas are that eleborate do you reckon they were also teh houses of teh living instead or just of the dead? list (just the male samples) of the paper from constructed burials

Cannas di Sotto [Necropolis 26 Domus de Janas(rock carved tombs)] Carbonia SW Sardinia
MA89 _male _3400-3100BC _San Ciriaco _tomb12 _Yhg R1b1b _mtDNA K1b1a1
Su Crucifissu Mannu [Necropolis 22 Domus de Janas(rock carved tombs)] Porto Torres/Li Lioni NW Sardinia
SUC006 _male _2500-2300BC _Monte Claro _tomb16 _Yhg I2a1b1 _mtDNA H1av
SUC007 _male _2450-2300BC _Monte Claro _tomb16 _Yhg I2a1b1 _mtDNA J2a1a1
SUC005 _male _2300-2100BC _Bonnanaro A _tomb16 _Yhg I2a1b1 _mtDNA K1a4a1
SUC003 _male _2100-1950BC _Bonnanaro A _tomb16 _Yhg I2a1b1 _mtDNA J1c3
SUC009 _male _1850-1650BC _Bonnanaro B _tomb22 _Yhg I2a1b _mtDNA J2a1a1a
S'Iscia 'e sas Piras [Necropolis 3 Domus de Janas(rock carved tombs)] Usini NW Sardinia
ISC001 _male _2300-2100BC _Bonnanaro A _tomb2 _Yhg I2a1b1 _mtDNA T2b3
Serra Crabiles [Necropolis 4 Domus de Janas(rock carved tombs)] Sennori NW Sardinia
SEC001 _male _2450-2200BC _Monte Claro _tomb3 _Yhg G2a2a1a2a1a _mtDNA J2b1a
SEC002 _male _2500-2350BC _Monte Claro _tomb3 _Yhg G2a2a1a2a1a _mtDNA J1c3
Ingurtosu Mannu [Giants Tomb 17ind.] Donori SC Sardinia
MA110 _male _1200-1050BC _NUragic III _chambered tomb _Yhg R1b1b _mtDNA T2b3

It seems that Cannas di Sotto (neolithic) is the oldest of the set and app. also ?the oldest domus de janas in general aswell, most samples are however from the Chalcolithic/EBA

 

[Massenzio]

yet two sites seem prominantly mentioned ena' e muros and said montrox' e bois which however seem to be from opposite ends of the island

There are other similar tombs in Southern Sardinia such as the two tombs of Sa Mandara (Guasila)

==The tombs of Sa Mandara, Guasila==

These two corridor tombs yielded amber beads, vitreous paste beads, bronze artifacts (a dagger, a bronze button with a double perforation and other bronze fragments which were probably part of a blade), the tombs are dated to the late RBA, early FBA









The earliest examples of this kind of corridor tombs seem to be the two tombs discovered at Collinas:

==Nuragics tombs of Sa Sedda E Sa Caudela, Collinas==
Among the many finds, a decorated pyxis from tomb A and a bronze dagger. Bones, glass, fayence beads. vases. for the pyxis The decorative motif is akin to Campus - Leonelli 2000, types 996 (Su Murru Mannu - Cabras), 1009 (Nolza - Meana, Santu Antine - Torralba, Su Murru Mannu), 1010 (Santu Antine), 1018 ( Nolza). "




So it seems like this type of tombs is clearly Nuragic in origin and didn't appear all of a sudden as it was already present since the Middle Bronze Age 3

Fayence beads apparently appear in Nuragic contexts since the Middle Bronze Age 3 period, some of those beads certainly came from Egypt and the Syro-Palestinese coast:





A quite unique example of corridor tomb is that of Su Fraigu, San Sperate:


==Corridor tomb of Su Fraigu, San Sperate==

This corridor tomb contained 300 corpses, the most interesting find in the tomb is certainly that of a cylinder seal made out of olivine, imported from either Ugarit or Cyprus:





The tomb is dated to the RBA/FBA, around 1200-1050 bc

 

[Massenzio]

awesome
but since the domus de janas are that eleborate do you reckon they were also teh houses of teh living instead or just of the dead? list (just the male samples) of the paper from constructed burials

Cannas di Sotto [Necropolis 26 Domus de Janas(rock carved tombs)] Carbonia SW Sardinia
MA89 _male _3400-3100BC _San Ciriaco _tomb12 _Yhg R1b1b _mtDNA K1b1a1
Su Crucifissu Mannu [Necropolis 22 Domus de Janas(rock carved tombs)] Porto Torres/Li Lioni NW Sardinia
SUC006 _male _2500-2300BC _Monte Claro _tomb16 _Yhg I2a1b1 _mtDNA H1av
SUC007 _male _2450-2300BC _Monte Claro _tomb16 _Yhg I2a1b1 _mtDNA J2a1a1
SUC005 _male _2300-2100BC _Bonnanaro A _tomb16 _Yhg I2a1b1 _mtDNA K1a4a1
SUC003 _male _2100-1950BC _Bonnanaro A _tomb16 _Yhg I2a1b1 _mtDNA J1c3
SUC009 _male _1850-1650BC _Bonnanaro B _tomb22 _Yhg I2a1b _mtDNA J2a1a1a
S'Iscia 'e sas Piras [Necropolis 3 Domus de Janas(rock carved tombs)] Usini NW Sardinia
ISC001 _male _2300-2100BC _Bonnanaro A _tomb2 _Yhg I2a1b1 _mtDNA T2b3
Serra Crabiles [Necropolis 4 Domus de Janas(rock carved tombs)] Sennori NW Sardinia
SEC001 _male _2450-2200BC _Monte Claro _tomb3 _Yhg G2a2a1a2a1a _mtDNA J2b1a
SEC002 _male _2500-2350BC _Monte Claro _tomb3 _Yhg G2a2a1a2a1a _mtDNA J1c3
Ingurtosu Mannu [Giants Tomb 17ind.] Donori SC Sardinia
MA110 _male _1200-1050BC _NUragic III _chambered tomb _Yhg R1b1b _mtDNA T2b3

It seems that Cannas di Sotto (neolithic) is the oldest of the set and app. also ?the oldest domus de janas in general aswell, most samples are however from the Chalcolithic/EBA

No, they were only meant for the dead, as traces of domestic use were never found inside them, they replicated the houses of the living, some Neolithic houses with a similar shape to the Domus de janas were in fact found, but it's rare to find ruins of Neolithic houses since they were mostly made of perishable materials such as wood.
In the case of the Monte Claro and surely of the Bonnanaro burials, the Domus De Janas were just re-used, they weren't carved for those occasion, they were tombs belonging to older cultures such as the Ozieri culture.
The dating of the San Ciriaco burial is strange, since the culture is dated to the second half of the fifth milllennium bc, not the fourth, 3500-3100 bc should be Sub Ozieri or Ozieri I think.