Well sanctuary (Sardinia)

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The well sanctuaries of Sardinia ( Italian Pozzo sacro , plur. Pozzi sacri ) are more than 60 enclosed and partly covered holy springs or wells. They were built by the nuragic bearers during the Bronze Age . The inadequate water supply has always been one of the main problems in Sardinia. For the Nuragic civilization, which developed on the basis of the local Neolithic and Chalcolithic cultures, the water cult became one of the most important elements of religion.

Fountain with tholos

The classification as sanctuaries results from found votive offerings . Their structural design is relatively uniform: from an anteroom used for ritual acts, up to 40 steps lead to the water or, as in the case of Funtana Coberta , Is Pirois , Cuccuru Nuraxi and Quirra , to a lower (or completely subterranean) tholos from from which one could draw water from the well shafts that reach up to 22 m deep.

The archaic nuraghe Is Paras also has a well-like substructure, the purpose of which is unclear . At Fonte Niedda (Perfugas) and the spring sanctuaries Su Lumarzu and Su Tempiesu there is a slightly different but similar architecture.

List of Sardinian well and spring sanctuaries

A) Well

The sacred well of Sa Testa

B) sources

The sacred spring of Noddule

Typology

A tripartite typology of architecture exists throughout the period.

  1. Cyclopean wall type . The building is made from roughly worked blocks.
  2. Wall type Opus isodomum . The processed stones laid in straight layers result in a good structure and symmetry.
  3. Type polygonal walls

The best preserved (or restored) larger fountains include: Sa Testa and Milis near Olbia , Predio Canopoli near Perfugas , the hypogeum San Salvatore near Cabras , Santa Anastasia (Sardara) in Sardara , Santa Cristina near Paulilatino , Santa Vittoria , Sos Nurattolos near Buddusò and Serra Niedda near Sorso . A finely crafted, somewhat different fountain, a giant grave and a round temple (Capanna circolare) are located at the Nuraghen Noddule near Bitti .

literature

  • Paolo Melis: Nuragic culture. Carlo Delfino editore, Sassari 2003, ISBN 88-7138-276-5 .
  • Jürgen E. Walkowitz: The megalithic syndrome. European cult sites of the Stone Age (= contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe. Vol. 36). Beier & Beran, Langenweißbach 2003, ISBN 3-930036-70-3 .
  • Maud Webster: Water-temples of Sardinia: Identification, inventory and interpretation . Uppsala University 2014 [1]

Web links