Antonio Taramelli wrote, regarding the well temple of Funtana Coberta in Ballao (“Excavations and Discoveries 1918-1921 in the reissue by Delfino Editore), that the “protosard temple discovered in the region ‘Sa Funtana Coperta’ was frequented “in Roman times and in closer times to us” and that “this persistence of use, if not of worship, of the fountain, consequently led to the disappearance of any and all traces of the primitive worship, leaving barely a few testimonies of the modest furnishings of the Nuragic age, confirming the Nuragic character of the underground construction.” He also observed, always in this regard, that “perhaps the solitary valley of Fontana Coperta saw the gatherings of the peoples of these areas preparing for their threatening and feared incursions into the rich lands of the inhabited plain of the Patulcensi Campani, and the warring undertakings, which disturbed the tranquility of provincial life, were in the minds of the Galillensi rebels nothing more than an attempt to reclaim dominion and freedom and lands of ancient entitlement, taken from them by the colonists imported from Rome, and were supported, animated, and comforted by the powerful spirit, inciting the deity. And perhaps this is why the action of the Roman victor and ruler was directed against the temple, dispersing its worship and traces of it, and silencing that religious center, while maintaining the beautiful fountain, very useful and indeed indispensable throughout the area, and in the adjacent flat and sunlit valley of the Flumendosa…” The photos of the sacred well of Funtana Coberta are by: Sergio Melis, Bibi Pinna, Gianni Sirigu, Giovanni Sotgiu, and Diversamente Sardi. The black and white drawing attached to Taramelli’s writing (external view of the shrine of Funtana Coberta after the excavation) is by F. Giarrizzo.
