Cuccuru S'Arriu
Coordinates: 39 ° 55 ′ 0 ″ N , 8 ° 31 ′ 25 ″ E
Cuccuru S'Arriu , is located near the lagoon of Cabras , on the road that leads to Tharros , on the Sinis peninsula in the province of Oristano in Sardinia . The place consists u. a. from a settlement of the early Neolithic Ozieri culture . But also late Neolithic ironworks as well as relics from the Middle and Late Bronze Age (fountains and temples), the Punic era and Roman finds that go back to the imperial era were found here.
A necropolis from the Middle Neolithic period , which was created by the Bono Ighinu culture (4700-4000 BC), was systematically excavated between 1978 and 1989 . On the former island of Cuccuru S'Arriu, 19 graves were discovered when a drainage canal was created south of the city.
- 13 are unicellular, mastaba-like hypogea , the entrances of which were dug vertically into the sandstone . At the lower end, a good two meters below the surface, lies the actual chamber closed with a plate. The bubble-like shape of the chamber and its oval access led to the designation “oven graves” (Italian-Sardinian Fórros, Fórredus or Furrighésos). The vertical shape is unique for the western Mediterranean region until then, but is repeated in Sardinia in the Punic necropolis of Tuvixeddu near Cagliari .
- Four different types of graves were located in pits that were rather superficially worked into the rock,
- the remaining two are earth graves that were excavated in the sandy zone next to the sandstone area.
Skeletons were found in 18 of the 19 graves. Lying in a stool on the left side on stone slabs and dusted with red ocher , the burials lay in the oven graves, in which two double burials were discovered. In 13 at least one female or gender-unspecific idol (statuina fittile) was found, which is missing in all pit and earth graves. Two of these small statuettes were given to a single individual in one case. No burial, but three statuettes characterize the individual empty grave in the necropolis.
The anthropological analysis of the four skeletons in the graves, 384, 386 and 387, led to the identification of one individual each
- of "approximately mature" age male (384),
- a young adult man (386 / A),
- a young individual (386B),
- a mature adult (387).
Grave 387 (see web link) illustrates the canonical scheme of oven burials. Like those of the other oven graves, his vases show a preference for smooth shapes with sporadic or limited decoration, a taste that corresponds to southern models. In contrast to the formal execution in the northern part of the island, which is evidenced by the cave finds of this culture near Mara, Alghero and Sassari .
In contrast to the ceramics, the distribution of the voluminous statuettes shows a uniform Mediterranean typology. The finds from Santa Mariedda ( Olbia ), Su Anzu (Narbolia), e Polu (Meana Sardo) and from the Corongiu Acca grotto (Villamassargia in the Sulki ) show analogies with those in Anatolia , Corsica , Malta and the Greek Sesklo culture. The remaining (mainly ceramic) material Sardinian production is more similar to that of the Italian mainland and is particularly found in Emilia-Romagna (Chiozza di candiano), Tuscany , Liguria and in the French south (le Midi).
literature
- Peter van Dommelen: Punic persistence. Romanization and local resistance in west central Sardinia . Leiden 2007, p. 161-209 . (The location is noted in the general plan on p. 190 with no. 624) ( full text (PDF; 7.8 MB) as digital copy - note the long loading time!)
- Lucrezia Campus (ed.): La cultura di Ozieri. La Sardegna e il Mediterraneo nel IV e III millennio aC Edizioni Il Torchietto, Ozieri 1997, (Atti del 2o convegno di studi, Ozieri, 15-17 ottobre 1990).
- Vincenzo Santoni: Neolitico medio di Cuccuru S'Arriu di Cabras (Or) . 1995.
- Alberto Moravetti, Carlo Tozzi et al. (Eds.): Guide archeologiche. Preistoria e Protostoria in Italia . 2: Sardegna . ABACO, Forlí 1995, ISBN 88-86712-01-4 .