Nuraghe
Nuraghes or nuraghes (in German feminine , in Italian masculine ) are prehistoric towers of bonnanaro culture (2200-1600 v. Chr.) And inseparably connected thereto, subsequent Nuraghic (about 1600-400 v. Chr.) In Sardinia . They are available in a great variety of structures. Its purpose is disputed. Use as a place of worship, as a grave or as a residential and fortification complex was discussed. Recent studies favor the latter alternative.
etymology
As early as the middle of the 3rd century BC The Romans ruling the island used the term "nuraghe". The origin of the word, which occurs in various variations in Sardinia, is unclear. According to one hypothesis, the strain is ONLY in terms that are also used in other regions of the western Mediterranean as "NUL", "NOR" and the like. are to be found and 1. “Pile” or 2. “Cave” or “Hollow tree” or 3. mean fire. According to another thesis, the word is of Punic origin.
distribution
In Sardinia, a distribution of 2.7 nuraghi per 10 km² was determined. In some areas in the northwest, the concentration is particularly high. In the Valle dei Nuraghi there are six systems on 10 km². According to recent estimates, around 10,000 copies were built in Sardinia. In 1962 Giovanni Lilliu recorded the remains of around 7,000 nuraghi. Most often they are in the west and in the center of Sardinia (see distribution map - dark green area).
Designs
Preforms
The classical or Tholosnuraghen emerged from a large number of structurally different proto- or corridoruraghen. The difference lies mainly in the design of the ceiling construction, which made larger room designs possible through the use of the cantilever vault . The transition to the nuraghi with vaulted ceilings seem to be represented by the nuraghi Albucciu near Arzachena , S'Ulivera (near Silanus ) and Su Mulinu near Villanovafranca , in which both forms can be found in the ceiling design. The first signs of vaulting have also been observed in a protonuraghen.
- Nuraghi
Nuraghe Is Paras
Nuraghe Arrubiu
View into the interior of the Nuraghe Su Nuraxi
Nuraghe Succuronis at Macomer
Tholosnuraghen
The tholosnuraghi are divided into simple nuraghi (monotorre) and complex nuraghi or polylobate. The complex nuraghi consist of a central tower surrounded by usually lower corner towers. They are connected by massive walls that generally contain a courtyard with a fountain. The trilobati and quadrilobati are very common among the complex nuraghi. The former consist of three corner towers, and examples of this type are Nuraghe Santu Antine , Nuraghe Losa, and Nuraghe Is Paras .
Juan Belmonte and Mauro Zedda examined 272 simple and 180 complex nuraghi. They found that the access point was always oriented towards the southeast. Some of the windows in the nuraghi are also oriented towards astronomical points. Such phenomena were observed (here, probably incorrectly) in the Nuraghe Aiga near Abbasanta and in the Nuraghe Sa Jua of Aidomaggiore . Here the sun entered the building at the summer solstice. Solar orientations are strong arguments for a religious function as such orientations and window openings do not have defensive qualities. Most archaeologists are less likely to assume that these structures have a religious purpose. However, the fact is that nuraghi often stand next to temples, especially well sanctuaries , so a direct or indirect connection is likely.
Niches or cells
No matter how complex the area of a tholosnuraghe became (over time), the dominant tholos stood at the center , a usually single tower called mastio . It almost always has a round chamber within the meter-thick walls, which mostly has niches, either:
- none (e.g. Arrubiu , Sa Domu 'e s'Orku , Oes ),
- one (e.g. Nuraddeo and Binzas ),
- two (e.g. Armungia , Lugherras , Palmavera , Ponte , Su Nuraxi , Nuraghe Mannu ),
- three (e.g. Losa , Nuraghe Madrone , Santa Sarbana near Silanus ),
- four (e.g. Sa Cuguttada near Mores )
- or instead of niches, a ring-shaped corridor that can be reached via two (Nuraghe Leortinas) or three ( Nuraghe Santu Antine ) passages from the chamber.
There are mostly three niches, whereby the left one can be rudimentary. A finely crafted altar was also found in Su Mulinu .
Stairs to the upper floor
The upper floors, which are usually demolished, can be reached via a spiral staircase that branches off to the left in the access corridor to the central chamber (Santu Antine, Nuraghe Oes ). In the case of the Domu s'Orku and Su Nuraxi nuraghi , the staircase begins at the top of the dome. The beginning can only be reached via ladders.
There are nuraghi without a staircase and those with stairs starting from a niche or one-niche chamber (Baiolu, S'Iscala 'e Pedra). At the Sa Pedra Longa Nuraghe , the stairs begin in a separate niche in the single niche chamber. At Sa Figu Rànchida , the staircase begins in the right of the three central niches. These explanations seem to be early forms.
Secondary holoi
The central tholos (mastio or monotorre) was gradually built around some locations with smaller, usually completely niche-free (i.e. with a different function) secondary holoi. There are nuraghi with only one secondary holos ( Italian Nuraghe a tancato - Sa Domu 'e s'Orku , Santa Barbara in Villanova Truschedu) and those with two ( Nuraghe Oes ), three ( Italian Trilobati ) ( Nuraghe Losa Nuraghe Santu Antine ), four ( Nuraghe Lugherras , Santa Sarbana near Silanus, Nuraghe Su Nuraxi ), up to five ( Nuraghe Arrubiu ) large domed buildings, which are mostly separated from the central Tholos by an integrated courtyard. The Nuraghe Arrubio has the special feature that two of the five Nebentholoi are equipped with two or three niches.
To distinguish them from the simple form of Monotorre, they are called nuragic complexes. The extension of such enlarged facilities consists of an extensive walling of the nuraghe, which already consists of several tholoi. Another four to seven tholoi can be integrated into this outer wall , so that the Nuraghe Su Nuraxi consisted of a total of 12 tholoi.
Couple
In nuraghe construction, as with dry stone walls , large blocks of stone were erected without mortar to form a tower, which tapers towards the top and terminates inside (possibly by floor) as a false vault . The access corridor was usually in the southeast.
- In the Nuraghe Domu s'Orku, the round, niche-free, somewhat eccentric interior is vaulted by a very slender cantilever dome. The entrance corridor has no guard cell and no staircase.
- In the Nuraghe Su Nuraxi, the somewhat eccentric interior has two side niches (cells). The entrance corridor has a so-called guard cell on the right-hand side (there are only a few guard cells on the left-hand side).
- In the Nuraghe Santu Antine , the guardian cell becomes a 270 ° passage around the central space, which merges with the cells.
Building large cantilever vaults (high-diameter domes) requires experience. In the Nuraghe Domu s'Orku, the diameter and height of the slender tholos are approximately 1: 2. The tholos in the Nuraghe Is Paras has an interior height of 11.8 m, with a lower diameter of 6.3 m (1: 1.87). It is one of the highest and has been preserved in a unique way among the otherwise rather incomplete.
In the multi-storey nuraghi the dome becomes lower, at Su Nuraxi 1: 1.6 and on the ground floor the Nuraghe Santu Antine 1: 1.45. The problem of the low utilization of the enclosed space due to the required height of the overlapping cantilever vaults was cleverly solved in the Nuraghen Oes: The interior consists of a single, domed circular shaft, into which wooden floors were drawn on three prepared wall sections, which the nuraghe 4- made floors.
Guard cells
The so-called guardian cell is an intramural cell, which is located in the nuraghi widespread in Sardinia at the side in the access corridor to the main chamber in the mastio; the same applies to the torren common in Corsica (e.g. Castellu di Cucuruzzu). The entrances to the nuraghi are usually between 3.5 and 5.5 m long, tunnel-like, narrow and low. They lead into the chamber from the outside or from an atrium. There are also nuraghi without guard cell (Arrubio, Nuraddeo, Oes, Palmavera, Sa Domu 'e s'Orku (Sarroch)), which are predominantly to be counted among the early forms.
Guard cells got their name because the archaeologists see the cells in the corridor as the room for the doorman. They have different sizes, shapes and positions. Most of them are on the right, but there are also on the left (Santa Sarbana near Silanus). Occasionally they expand to form passages and are then completely absent (Nuraghe Santu Antine). The small guard cell in the Protonuraghen Front'e Mola is the oldest. The Nuraghe Diana has two guard cells opposite. Guard cells can also be found in other tower structures such as Scottish brochs.
Breakthroughs in the wall
The secondary towers (never the central mastio ), and in individual cases also the connecting corridors between the secondary tholoi, sometimes had stomata that curved inwards, like inverted loopholes. In nuraghi with a circumferential ring corridor ( Santu Antine ), the wall openings that were later built over were directed towards the circumferential ring. Su Nuraxi , in which the slits are directed both outwards and towards the inner courtyard, shows that such a function, which Paolo Melis also denies, was not intended, especially since the slits (opposite to real loopholes) were narrow on the outside and wider on the inside . That a fortificatory function can be ruled out is also clear on the Su Pranu plateau near Siddi , where some nuraghi are only 200 m apart.
Models
Excavation findings and models found confirm that nuraghi were crowned by elaborate, protruding structures. Limestone models exist from Barumini (height 36 cm) and Monte Prama, a sandstone model from San Sperate (height 33 cm) and a bronze model from Olmedo (height 26 cm).
Nuragic complexes
Some nuraghi form village-like complexes with a myriad of other buildings (mostly round cells). The largest and best-preserved nuraghe complex, which was expanded in five construction phases and is known as the Großnuraghe, is Su Nuraxi near Barumini in the province of Medio Campidano . It is on the World Heritage List .
Nuragic settlements
In the final phase of the culture (probably from 1000 BC) nuragic settlements emerged , some of which managed without nuraghe at all. The period from the 8th to the 6th century BC is particularly interesting. The progress of social organization and economic development are shown by the appearance of agricultural and pastoral villages. About 100 nuragic villages are known to be found in all zones of the country:
- in the mountains, like in Abini and S'Urbale (Teti)
- on hills like Su Iriu (Gergei), Medesas di Lasplassasm and Su Nuraxi (Barumini)
- on plateaus such as Su Pranu di Orrioli, Serra Orrios , Serrucci near Gonnesa
- by the sea: Nuraghe Mannu (Dorgali)
The number of huts is between 40 and 200. The villages offered space for up to 1000 people. They represented the developed form of the Paleosardian settlement and its public, economic and religious life. It was during this period that architecture reached its peak.
Nuragic myth
According to the Greek legend - nuraghi are mentioned by Pseudo-Aristotle , Diodor and other Greek authors - Daidalos is said to have been their builder. After that they would be of Aegean origin. Some modern researchers also drew parallels to Mycenaean Tholos tombs , but for both typological and chronological reasons, any influence on nuraghi construction from the Aegean region can be ruled out. The oldest surviving examples of cantilever vaults are the tholos-like chambers in the Cairn of Barnenez in Brittany (4500-4000 BC). Tholoi also originated on the Iberian Peninsula, while the Talayot culture and the Maltese temple culture , which either operated at the same time or earlier, did not know the round cantilever vault.
Nuraghi worth seeing
 
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Nuraghe and Protonuraghe worth seeing in Sardinia  Nuraghe Protonuraghe
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Difference between single tower, nuraghe complex and protonuraghe :
- Albucciu ( Province of Sassari ) (Protonuraghe)
- Antigori ( South Sardegna Province )
- Ardasai (South Sardegna Province)
- Arrubiu (Sud Sardegna) (largest complex)
- Asoru (South Sardegna Province)
- Brunku Madagui (South Sardegna Province - Protonuraghe)
- Friarosu ( Oristano Province - Protonuraghe)
- Front'e Mola (Province of Sassari) (Protonuraghe)
- Is Paras ( Nuoro Province )
- Izzana (Sassari Province) (Protonuraghe)
- La Prisgiona (Province of Sassari) Greater Nuraghe
- Losa (Oristano Province) (complex)
- Madrone (Nuoro Province)
- Orolo (Nuoro Province)
- Palmavera (Sassari Province) (complex)
- Santu Antine (province of Sassari) (complex) in the Valle dei Nuraghi
- Seneghe (Oristano Province - Protonuraghe)
- Su Mulinu (South Sardegna Province)
- Su Nuraxi (South Sardegna Province) (complex)
Other towers
In neighboring Corsica , the Torre culture existed at around the same time in the south , building similar structures whose (modern) name was derived from the word for tower ( torre ). Tower structures such as the talayots in the Balearic Islands and the Scottish brochures appear similar. However, they also show significant differences in construction and were created at least 500 years later than the early nuraghi. It is generally assumed that nuraghi without external impact (apart from the cantilever vault ) are a purely Sardinian invention. Tower structures of unexplored function were built e.g. B. also in Oman and in Greater Zimbabwe ( Africa ).
See also
- Bronze figures of the nuragic culture
- List of prehistoric and protohistoric archaeological sites in Sardinia
literature
- Giovanni Lilliu : I Nuraghi. Torri preistoriche di Sardegna. 1962 (to be treated with a little caution, since more recent research results contradict some of Lillius' assumptions).
- Giovanni Lilliu, Raimondo Zucca: Su Nuraxi di Barumini. Sassari 1988.
- Paolo Melis: Nuragic culture. Carlo Delfino editore, Sassari 2003, ISBN 88-7138-276-5 .
- Joseph W. Michels & Gary S. Webster: Studies in Nuragic archeology: village excavations at Nuraghe Urpes and Nuraghe Toscono in West-Central Sardinia . British Archaeological Reports, Oxford 1987, ISBN 978-0-86054-481-4 .
- Gustau Navarro i Barba: La Cultura Nuràgica de Sardenya. Edicions dels ALIL, Barcelona 2010, ISBN 978-84-613-9278-0 .
- Giorgio Stacul: Arte della Sardegna nuragica. Milan 1961.
- David Trump : Nuraghe Noeddos and the Bonu Ighinu Valley. Excavation and Survey in Sardinia. Oxford 1990, ISBN 0-946897-20-4 .
- 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 .
Web links
- Emma Blake: Constructing a Nuragic locale. The spatial relationship between tombs and towers in Bronze Age Sardinia. ( Memento of January 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) In: American journal of archeology, 105, No. 2, Boston 2001, pp. 145–162 (PDF file; 4.35 MB)
- Description + pictures
- An Investigation into the Construction of Sardinian Nuraghi (Italian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Duden: Volume 5, Foreign Dictionary. 7th edition. Dudenverlag, Mannheim 2001, ISBN 3-411-04057-2 , page 685.
- ↑ Alberto Moravetti, Elisabetta Alba, Lavinia Foddai (ed.): La Sardegna Nuraghica. Storia e Materiali. 2014, ISBN 978-8871387505 , pp. 20 f., PDF (Italian)
- ↑ The Nuraghe Mannu has an eccentric chamber in the form of a constant thickness .