“Among the various categories of fortified residences, there is also that of the mixed nuraghe, a building that contains formal and technological elements of both protonuraghi and evolved nuraghi.
Through the excavation of the fortress of Su Mulinu in Villanovafranca, it has clearly emerged that mixed nuraghi are nothing more than refurbished protonuraghi serving as nuraghi with a ‘tholos’. As in the protonuragic bastion of Su Mulinu, in many other archaic constructions (e.g., Gurti Acqua and Santu Perdu of Nurri, Serra Crastula and Quau of Bonarcado, Marasorighes or Bidinnannari-Ottana and Izzana-Aggius), a tower is integrated serving as a keep, allowing for the verticalization of the building based on new defensive needs.
In other cases, the transformation may be more radical, with the demolition of more substantial sections of the masonry of the buildings and their replacement with wall additions more consistent with the new architectural trends. In the nuraghe Majore of Tempio, the transformation of the low trunk-ogival vaults of the chambers and corridors into elongated full ogival vaults is observed. (to be continued)
Attached are the nuraghi Su Mulinu in Villanovafranca (ph. Gianni Sirigu and Bibi Pinna); Serra Crastula and Cuau of Bonarcado (ph. Andrea Mura- Nuragando Sardegna); Izzana of Aggius (ph. Francesca Cossu); Majori of Tempio Pausania (ph. Nicola Castangia)”
