Massimo Pittau wrote in his “History of the Nuragic Sardinians” (ed. Domus de Janas 2007) that it should “obviously be firmly excluded the possibility that, landing in southwestern Sardinia (Pittau noted in this regard that the temple of Antas in Fluminimaggiore was the main place of worship of Sardus Pater; worship that therefore continued during the Carthaginian and Roman domination), the Sardian Lydians found it deserted, that is, entirely devoid of inhabitants, given that the same very favorable agricultural and mining conditions of the area could not have failed to attract the attention and greed of other foreign populations…” (omissis) “…On the other hand, it is certain that over time the Sardians or Sards swarmed from southern Sardinia throughout the island; this is surely and clearly demonstrated by the spread of the <<nuraghe>>, the <<sacred well>>, the <<giant’s tombs>>, and also the bronzetti throughout the entire island…” (omissis) “…All this had been foreseen by the historian Ettore Pais when he wrote verbatim – although without thinking of an arrival of the Nuragic people from Lydia –: <<First landing on the southern coasts of the island, this people occupied the fertile plains of Campidano, the last undulations of the central chain of Gennargentu, pushed beyond the rich valley of Tirso, took possession of the lush hills of Logudoro and extended to the last beaches of the north (E. Pais “Sardinia before Roman domination”). On a linguistic level, the swarming of the Sardians from the Gulf of Cagliari towards the north and the center of the island is very significantly indicated by the following toponyms certainly Sardian or Nuragic: Sardasè, Sardagiulài, Sardannuttu (Desulo), Sardasài (Esterzili), Ardasài (from s’Ardasài, Seui): all with the root ‘sard’ of Sardus and Sardinia.”
The photos of the temple of Antas in Fluminimaggiore are by Maurizio Cossu and Pasquale Pintori. Those of the nuraghe Ardasai in Seui are by Marco Cocco and Sardegna che Passione.
