“The scholar who turns his thoughts to the island of Sardinia immediately envisions before his mind the typical millenary construction of the island, the nuraghe, the megalithic building that is, so to speak, the symbol of the noble land of the Tyrrhenian Sea and forms its most characteristic monument. For many decades, the examination by scholars and enthusiasts has focused on these monuments, investigating their shape, layout, posture, often discussing, in an academic manner and with a forensic spirit, their origin, their use, and their age; only in the last century, after the impetus given by Count Alberto Lamarmora and Canon Senator Giovanni Spano, research was directed towards the positive study of nuragic remains and their methodical exploration, to which, following the traces of Spano and his two disciples Vivanet and Nissardi, I have dedicated my thirty-year activity as an explorer. With this method of investigation, it can now be said that the opinion is well established that the nuraghi, scattered in the thousands across the island’s land, are buildings intended not for the protection of the dead, but rather as dwellings for the living, arranged on Sardinian soil with a complete understanding of the entire territory, with the evident purpose of watching over it, possessing it, and fiercely contesting it against any invader, known or unknown, whether brother or stranger…”
This is what Antoni Taramelli wrote in 1934 (“Sardegna Archeologica” – reprint – Antonio Taramelli “Excavations and Discoveries 1922-1939” – Delfino Editore 1985). Today, after more than eighty years, we continue to question the function of the nuraghi, which despite Taramelli’s optimism, is by no means established but is subject to various and often controversial interpretations.
In the shots by Sergio Melis, the nuraghi: Sanilo and Aidomaggiore; Tosingalo (or Tosinghene) of Aidomaggiore/Sedilo; Longu of Padria; Lugherras of Paulilatino; Sa Funtana of Ittireddu.
