Nuraghe Santu Antine

Model in Torralba

plan

The Nuraghe Santu Antine is a Bronze Age nuraghe in Sardinia in the area of Torralba ( province of Sassari ). Excavation work has uncovered traces of settlement from Roman times . The monument in the valley of the nuraghi has been developed for tourism and is particularly worth seeing. Finds and a model are exhibited in the Torralba local museum. The Nuraghe Oes is about 800 m as the crow flies, near Giave .

The nuraghe is popularly called Sa Domo de su Re (Eng. "House of the King"; the nuragic royal palace) - a name that alludes to the dimensions of the building. The main tower is still 17.55 m high and is one of the highest in Sardinia.

Research history

1774: first drawing by the naturalist Abbot Francesco Cetti (probably the first drawing of a nuraghi at all). The nuraghe is a large heap of rubble from which the central tower (mastio) protrudes. The inner courtyard is completely buried and is only discovered 60 years later through excavation work.
1828: WH Smith presents the first planimetry with cross-section and perspective view.
1840: Photograph by Count Alberto Ferrero de Lamamora in the atlas of his book Voyage en Sardaigne.
1854–1867: Observations by archaeologist Giovanni Spano
1888: Perspective view of Father Alberto Centurione, which still shows the elevation of the angle towers (now gone) - some stones were removed by building a well.
1901: First photograph taken by Giovanni Pinza.
1908: Reflections by Francois Préchac
1923: Reflections by Ettore Pais
1935: First archaeological excavations by Antonio Taramelli - but here only the main monument and the remains of the adjoining Roman buildings. All rooms of the nuraghe were cleared out and access to every floor was made possible.
1947: first reconstruction proposal by Paolino Mingazzini

1964: Excavations by Guglielmo Maetzke and Ercole Contu in the circular hut complexes.

1985: Search trench at the west masonry with the discovery of the foundation by Susanna Baffico and Guido Rossi.

Contu (1988) estimates that around 10% of the facility has been excavated so far.

Monument description

Santu Antine

Settlement remains on the eastern forecourt

in the main cell on the ground floor

Grouting technology

View into the west corridor, bastion

The system consists of the elements

a.) Main tower: the multi-layered central building

b.) Wall with three corner tholoi around the main tower

c.) Settlement remains: around the bastion

The main tower

format: Base diameter 10.23 m; former height approx. 21 m, now 17.55 m

material: Mostly hewn basalt blocks, all organic components such as wooden beams, mats, etc. are gone. The joints were filled with broken basalt. The basalt is vesicular (diameter of the air bubbles up to 0.6 cm) and has a dark violet / black-gray color. Orange-yellow lichens preferentially and effectively settle on this stone.

construction: so-called cyclopean construction. The lower row stones measure 1.13 × 0.68 m (= 0.77 m²); the upper row stones 0.74 × 0.38 m (0.28 m²). The stones are recognizable in a large, rough construction in the lower section (12 layers) and a fine stone construction in the upper section (17 layers preserved). It can be seen in both construction phases that smaller stones were used towards the top.

layout: Frustoconical; dark purple / black surface. Some light marl stones found can indicate an effective white crowning. Cantilever stones were also found in the rubble, which reconstruct the head of the main tower with a parapet analogous to other finds in various nuraghi (Nuraghe Costa Palma).

ground floor: After the passage you reach a cross-shaped entrance that leads up to the spiral staircase on the left; straight ahead into the central chamber and right into the ring corridor around the central chamber. The central chamber has a diameter of 5.25 m and a ceiling height of 7.93 m. Pointed vault shape without a real keystone. The ring corridor has 9 light columns, which, however, were blocked by the later construction phase of the bastion.

Rise: The way over the spiral staircase (winding to the right, favorable for the defense) leads past a small chamber halfway up the first floor. A noticeably narrow passage leads into this chamber. When the bastion was built, six light shafts were added here.

1st floor: The central cell has a diameter of 4.85 m and a height of 5.33 m. Here also a surrounding stone bench such. B. at the "parliament building" of the Nuraghe Palma Vera. This form of the nuraghi bench is unique, otherwise only in the outer buildings. At the entrance to the cell there is also a passage to the outside with a view of the inner courtyard.

2nd Floor: Badly damaged, the central cell is around 4.12 m in diameter and around 4.50 m in height (reconstructed). Up here there was also access to the overhanging terrace. This has not been preserved in any of the nuraghi, but has been sensibly reconstructed using the corbels and models found.

The bastion

format: roughly triangular floor plan that integrates the main tower - but there is no access to it. The length of the base is about 39 m.

material: dark basalt like the main tower; 0.85 × 0.66 m (= 0.6 m²). The surfaces are not hewn flat, but rather slightly concave.

literature

Paolo Melis: Nuragic culture. Carlo Delfino editore, Sassari 2003, ISBN 88-7138-276-5 .
Giovanni Lilliu, Raimondo Zucca: Su Nuraxi di Barùmini. Delfino, Sassari 1988, ISBN 88-7138-109-2 , ( Sardegna archeologica. Guide e itinerari 9).
Ercole Contu: The Nuraghe Santu Antine. Carlo Delfino editore, Sassari 1988, ISBN 88-7138-222-6 , ( Sardegna archeologica. Guide e itinerari 6).

Web links

Commons : Nuraghe Santu Antine - Collection of images, videos and audio files

40.486543 8.769874Coordinates: 40 ° 29 ′ 11.6 ″ N , 8 ° 46 ′ 11.5 ″ E