Tombs of the Giants in Sardinia or the Mystery of the Nurags

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Only the Egyptian pyramids can compare with the nuragas in the power of mystery and grandeur. Almost four thousand years ago, between 1600 and 1200 BC, in a strange and still unsolved way, the ancient inhabitants of the island erected these stone circular structures. The huge stones were stacked one to the other, completely without the aid of any mortar!

The stones form regular concentric circles, which gradually decrease towards the top and all this is held together only under the weight of its own weight! Scientists still do not know the answer to the question of how these monumental buildings were erected.

Nuragic settlements are scattered all over the island, on the mountains and plains, on the seashore.

Huge towers made of multi-ton stone blocks are the biggest mystery of the island of Sardinia. There has long been a scientific debate around these ancient structures called nuragas. The reason for this was the uniqueness of the buildings, which have no analogues in the world.

Initially, experts believed that the towers called "nuragi" were burial grounds or sanctuaries of the first inhabitants of Sardinia. But according to the version of the indigenous people, the nuraghes are protective structures from the cyclops giants. Historical science does not accept myths. But she herself cannot give a single convincing version explaining the emergence of eight thousand towers on the island, which could shelter about 250 thousand people at a time behind their walls. It is also unclear why their inhabitants suddenly decided to leave their inaccessible dwellings.

In antiquity, there were much more towers than have survived to this day. Some of the researchers of the east call fantastic numbers from 20 to 30 thousand. Many of them have been wiped off the face of the earth by time. Others are hidden from human eyes underground, and only natural disasters make them rise to the surface. So, thanks to a terrible flood, which completely washed away one of the hills in 1949, an entire village with nuragas, hidden in the ground for almost 25 centuries, surfaced into the light of day. What are these towers? These are huge cone-shaped structures, the height of which sometimes reaches 20 meters. Nuragues were formed from large stone blocks, one after another, the blocks were laid in a circle. The circle was superimposed on the circle. It is noteworthy that no mortar was used to connect the blocks, the entire monumental structure was held only due to the weight and correct arrangement of the blocks. The secret of the ancient architects was that they used stone blocks from different rocks for construction. Each differed in density and shape, in addition, the higher the rows of cobblestones rose above the ground, the closer they converged to the center. The main entrance to the tower was located on the southern side of the building, immediately followed by a short and wide corridor, through which one could get into the main hall. Sometimes there were several rooms in the nuraghe, and the ceilings in them were vaulted.

In addition to the freestanding Nuraghe towers, entire nuralogical complexes were erected. In fact, these were cities, consisting of one large central nuraghe and several small ones, connected by moats and walls. The complex was most often located on a rampart. Small, round pinnets huts were erected in the courtyard of such a shelter. As a result of the development, small streets appeared in the courtyard of the complex, less than a meter wide.

It is rather difficult to determine the construction time of these structures. But, as a rule, Nuragi date back to the Middle and Late Bronze Age, that is, approximately XVIII-XV centuries BC.

It is also difficult to say who was the architect of these structures, since very little is known about the Nuragians today. Historians suggest that the first inhabitants of Sardinia came to the island about 10 thousand years ago. At the same time, it is likely that the place of their former habitation was Corsica. According to one of the versions, the people of the builders of the Nurags were called by the mysterious term ShardanaoSerden; modern Sardinians believe that it was from them that the entire indigenous population of the island originated. It is noteworthy that the term ShardanaoSerden, as the names of one of the tribes, is also mentioned among the so-called "peoples of the sea", who during the ancient east fought with Egypt and civilizations in the Middle East. It is believed that some of the representatives of this "people" at one time could have settled on the Apennine Peninsula, as a result of which the Etruscan civilization appeared. The Russian historian Alexander Nemirovsky was convinced that the era of the construction of the Nurags came at the time of the migration of the Etruscan ancestors from Asia Minor to Italy. However, disputes over the Nuragians continue today for the reason that the ancient people do not resemble either the Etruscans or the indigenous inhabitants of Sardinia, they do not even look like the Iberians and representatives of the North African tribes, but the most important thing is that perhaps they do not even refers to the "Sea Peoples".

The purpose of the construction of the Nuraghe for modern historians also remains a mystery. There are more speculations on this issue than theories, and the existing theories do not stand up to criticism. Nuragi were considered temples of the cult of fire, simple dwellings, fortifications and shelters, sentinel posts and monuments of military achievements, the graves of noble members of society and even mausoleums of the ancient Egyptians who sailed here. Finally, they were considered temples of the gods and dwellings where ancient giants settled.

As a rule, critics of theories ask the question that if the nuraghi were burial places, then why were no remains or treasures found in them? If they served as settlements, the question arises about the practicality of such a dwelling.

It can be assumed that the nuraghes served as fortifications protecting the inhabitants from the militant tribesmen. But for a tiny island, a few thousand bastions is an overkill. Besides, what would have required the defense of this island if the first invaders appeared in Sardinia only 1000 years after the construction of the Nuraghe?

In 1984, a professor from the University of Cagliari, Carlo Maschia, put forward a version that the nuraghes were a kind of observatory where people observed astronomical objects and phenomena.

Confirmation of this unusual version is the fact that the so-called temple moon wells were found near the Nuraghe. According to Professor Mashya, these unusual buildings served for religious purposes. Each of the wells was laid in such a way that once a year, the light of the moon fell into the well. As a result, after midnight, for only a few minutes, the moonlight was reflected all over the well. According to one version, the lunar sanctuaries served to determine the moment of the onset of the lunar eclipse.

There is a legend that the Nuragi are nothing more than the "tombs of the giants." There were even witnesses who allegedly saw their huge remains with their own eyes. But neither the scientists nor the cavers who examined the towers found nothing.

Today, scientists tend to resort to the so-called "compromise" theory in relation to the Nurags. According to her, nuraghes were versatile and performed a variety of tasks. Proof of this is the fact that the places where the Nurags were built were very different, from the coast and the plain to the mountains and hills. A number of Italian researchers suggest that nuraghes served religious purposes. Women priestesses settled directly inside the Nuraghe, and around it was a settlement where pilgrims and parishioners could stay and even live. It is also believed that the Nuragi served as a place for mystical rituals.

If the purpose of the Nurags was exactly this, then this explains the shape and size of the dwellings located near the tower. It is quite obvious that a pilgrim who comes from afar and stops for a relatively short time does not need a lot of living space. The antlers found in one of the houses gave rise to the assumption that this animal could be sacred for the first inhabitants of the island. Ritual items were kept in special recesses in the walls of houses. It is possible that the deer could be revered as a guardian spirit of the dwelling.

The most famous and imposing nuraghe in Sardinia is Su-Nuraxi, which is located near the town of Barumini. The first excavations took place in this complex back in 1950. In the very center of the complex there is a huge, three-level stone tower, which is surrounded by numerous walls in the form of a labyrinth. The construction of the Nuraghe dates back to around the 15th century BC. Near the tower, as well as in some sectors of the intricate labyrinth, unusual bowls carved from solid stone are well preserved. What role they played in ancient times is not yet known.

However, Su-Nuraksi is known not only for this. Much more significant is the fact that it was in Su-Nuraksi that a bronze model of a nuraghe was discovered. Thanks to this find, modern scientists have a much better idea of what these buildings looked like in antiquity. However, here the opinions of historians diverged again. Someone believes that the model was symbolic for the ancient Sardinians, others are inclined to argue that this is just a toy for children of those times. The evidence of the latter was the numerous figurines of warriors, people and priestesses found there, as well as, apparently, a figurine of the goddess-mother of the people. Today, all these findings are kept in the storerooms of the National Archaeological Museum in Cagliari (the capital of Sardinia).

The decline of the Nuraghe culture fell on the 3rd century BC, when Sardinia was captured by Roman troops. Gradually, these stone "giants" began to empty, and along with them the Nuragic culture also faded away, assimilating with the Roman one. Over time, the last nuraghes also disappeared.

Finally, the last mysterious fact in the history of the Nuraghes was that when leaving their homes, the ancient inhabitants of the island bricked up all entrances with stone and clay tiles, and some places and objects in the Nuraghes were completely buried with earth.

Nevertheless, the ancient culture of the Nuraghe did not disappear from the face of the earth without a trace. In addition to the majestic stone buildings, she left a huge number of bronze items, in particular figurines, to modern archaeologists. These figurines are known as bronzettos. It is these cultural objects that help to know the ancient people better, to judge their level of culture and the development of metallurgy.