In a chapter of his book “I Pozzi Sacri – Prehistoric Architectures for the Cult of Water in Sardinia”, Massimo Rassu writes in particular about how the nuragic builders resorted to using molten lead between the joints of the blocks in the typical structures of the period, including those related to the use of water.
Similarly, votive swords were also displayed in the sanctuaries “sometimes fastening them with lead or bronze casts in the holes of the pediments of the covering tympana (omitted) or stone slabs…” as in the case of the pozzi sacri di Matzanni in Vallermosa (in the photos by Sergio Melis and Bibi Pinna).
Rassu hypothesizes among other things that “the anomalous position of the Matzanni wells in a high site derives from the extreme proximity to the large mineral deposit of Punta Santa Vittoria and Canale Serci, just 2-3 km Northwest of the sanctuary: mines possibly related to the load of ingots dated from the Early Iron Age (9th-8th century BC) found in the wreck of Domu ‘e s’Orku south of Arbus on the western coast…”
For this last finding, we attach the extraordinary images taken by Nicola Porcu, honorary inspector of the Superintendency for underwater heritage and professional diver, who passed away prematurely in August 2015.
