Nuoro (Sardinia)

Archaeological mission coordinator/director

Maurizio Cattani

Research Area and ERC Panels

• Archaeology from pre and proto history to medieval age
• SH6 The Study of the Human Past: Archaeology and history”

Starting date of the campaign and duration

Fieldwork activities started in 2012 with the permission of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism (MiBACT).

Overview

The cluster of Archaeology of the Department of History, Culture and Civilizations of the University of Bologna and the Municipality of Nuoro started a research project in the Tanca Manna Park, in the quarter of Su Nuraghe at Nuoro, where a Middle and Recent Bronze Age single-tower nuraghe is documented together with other residential structures.

The project has two main goals: the complete recovery, promotion and public fruition of the archaeological complex and the evaluation of the ancient landscape, as setting for subsistence strategies and economic planning of the Bronze Age local community.

In 2012, Dr Andrea Fiorini carried out a 3D photogrammetry of the nuraghe, which enabled the identification of the different constructive phases and of the various maintenance activities on the monument. Since 2013, the 3D reconstruction has been extended to the new discoveries, experimenting more developed techniques of monument documentation.

After seven years of excavations, it is now possible to understand the uniqueness of the village, which is constituted by rectangular houses of similar shape and size. Some households show an internal articulation of the space and structures associated to different domestic uses. The stratigraphic excavation has yielded materials of the Middle Bronze Age and some elements of the Sa Turricula culture, as well as some rare indicator of the Recent Bronze Age.

The nuraghe, is among the few monuments of this kind, comprised in an urban context, therefore suitable for a large fruition of the public. For this reason, beside the research fieldwork, the project includes the reconstruction of one or more replica of the houses with the method of experimental archaeology.

Information for students

Fieldwork activities are usually conducted for a period of one month.

Travel costs must be covered by the participants, while accommodation and food are covered by the University.

For further information, please contact prof. Maurizio Cattanimaurizio.cattani@unibo.it

References

Cattani M., Debandi F., Fiorini A., Murgia D. 2014, Lo scavo archeologico del Nuraghe Tanca Manna (Nuoro). Relazione preliminare delle campagne 2013-2014, Ipotesi di Preistoria, vol. 6, pp. 171-194.

Cattani M., Debandi F., Fiorini A., Murgia D. 2016, Tanca Manna, Nuoro (NU), Notiziario di Preistoria e Protostoria, IV. Neolitico ed età dei Metalli – Sardegna e Sicilia, pp. 35-37.

Cattani M. 2017, Architettura domestica agli albori della civiltà nuragica. Le fasi della Media età del Bronzo, in  Alberto Moravetti, Paolo Melis, Lavinia Foddai, Elisabetta Alba, a cura di, La Sardegna nuragica: storia e monumenti, Regione autonoma della Sardegna, Sassari, C. Delfino, pp. 85-100.