1.1.2 Prehistory in Sardinia Archaeology and historical signs Culture Summary Chart

Sardinian archaeology is very late still and despite very has already been done, as remains still to do. The most reliable studies date however to the 2000 BC (more than 4000 years ago) the first traces of civilization Neolithic (or NeoEneolithic) and they concern the penetration of origin Egea. Traces of the most ancient Paleolithic period are been found again in the north of the island and particularly in the center-north (the famous Venus of Macomer, the rocky graffiti of the Green Cave of Alghero (Grotta Verde di Alghero).

One of the most ancient " cultures " are that of St. Michael to Ozieri (Egei) and they were the people of this group to dig the famous ones "domus de janas" or house of the fairies, of the witches, that are in reality tombs.

Other important and ancient culture is that of Arzachena, so called by the place of the principal recoveries of finds of this culture.

Subsequently we have the Culture of Bonnanaro in which it begins the phenomenon of the architecture and the Nuraghic civilization. What were the Nuraghic fortress? What people was it what they lived them? They seem simple questions, but in reality yet the definitive answer has not been furnished, also because only from twenty years to this part Sardinian archaeology is starting a new and rich phase of intense and profitable searches (after the initial studies to work of people as Lamarmora, Orsoni, Pais and others, that initiated the searches in last century). We know, besides, that the commerce of obsidian (2) she has favored the exchange since with other cultures for the most ancient times.

Few over Bonorva we can still admire the rests of the Pre-Nuraghic Civilization in Sardinia, visiting the Necropolis hypogeal of San'Andrea Priu or that of Montessu.

According to some the Nuraghes would be defensive fortitudes (hypothesis today mostly accredited), according to other palaces or temples around which villages were primarily admitted of huts. Without doubt of buildings of enormous importance was treated for the collectivity that to build had to face them problems and enormous works, among which the necessity for some of these constructions to also make calculations complexes as it regards the buttresses. A mystery the fact that traces of writings of the period are not found again remains still. The Nuraghes have been built with blocks of stone superimposed (often of basalt), him drawn of buildings that exist by now from some millennia.

Among the most important and interesting to be seen the Nuraghe Arrubiu next to Orroli; the federal Sanctuary of Saint Victoria of you Shut; the Nuraghe Losa (in proximity of Abbasanta), the Nuraghe of Barumini (Cagliari Province) and the Nuraghe of Sant'Antine in proximity of Torralba (Sassari Province). The nuraghes (Nuraghic fortress) for their greatness and for the mystery that still surrounds good part of this historical epoch have a charm to which is difficult to withstand, some of these constructions later different millennia maintain almost intact their splendid structure.

From the eighth to the sixth century before Christ the Nuraghic civilization it knew his maximum shine: the small villages grew and they flourished around the Nuraghes and whole to them they were developed in general with the commerce and the contacts with the Mediterranean world. Numerous recoveries are to show it, for instance the copper ingots of origin egeas often found in the graves point out frequent contacts with the oriental territories of the Mediterranean one but also recoveries effected out of Sardinia, particularly in Egypt, where they have been found some papyruses that they speak of a "people of the sea" called Shardana (strong warriors that, for a certain period, mercenaries provided to the Pharaohs).

The decline begins with the constant wars that the Phoenician ones before, Carthago then and the Romans finally imposed to the Nuraghic populations. It slowly ends the Nuraghic history and it begins Roman Age in Sardinia. The Sardinian history is fiercely always however a history of invasions you oppose, proudly fought and, often, rejected.

The civilizations "prehistoric Romans, the Phoenician ones and the Carthaginian ones set colonies (very beautiful the ruins of Tharros next to Oristano and Nora next to Cagliari), other cities Phoenician was founded in the island among the before and the second Punic war, and they erected it to province, leaving anywhere traces of their presence (in the places, in the names, in the language, in the cities).

The fall of the empire Romano coincides, also in Sardinia, in the fifth century AD, with the invasion of the Vandals and subsequently, in the Sixth century, with the Byzantine domination. Since then in then the island apart two attempts of invasions Germanic Gotis and Longobards, rejected to work of the Sardinian people driven by his commanders and the constant threat of the Saracens it knew, together to a gradual separation from Byzantium, a period of intense civil and political-economic growth that the Sardinians remember today still: the period of the Kingdoms or Giudicati.

Away from the hegemony of the empire, the Sardinians, slowly but progressively they were given an autonomous political and economic organization. Four "kingdoms" or "Giudicati" were created (because the "king" was called "Judge") structurally of the oligarchies, with elective king: Giudicati of Cagliari, Torres, Arboreal and Gallura. It was a period of intense economic and cultural growth, a period of " foundation ", of laws, of discoveries of the national cultural values. It goes up again to this period (century XIV) the "Charta de Logu" harvest of laws, but also one of the first examples Sardinian language (recognized to national and European level, a true is own language with his dialects, it derives in fact from the Latin Oriental as French, the Spaniard and Portuguese, while Italian and other languages of the east European they derive from the Latin Oriental). The layout of the "Charta de Logu" is made to go up again to Eleonora of arboreal and Mariano IV, his father. They exist in subject authoritative judgments (Max Leopold Wagner, Massimo Devoto, Messenger Cossu, Nicola Valle to quote some of it). It is undeniable that the Sardinian is a language risen by the ancient Latin. Took Dante a resounding corner, when, in the De Vulgaris Eloquentia it sustained that simply the Sardinians imitated the language of Rome. The Sardinians had a proper vernacular and they were the first ones, among Italians, to do I use in the actions of it officers. The Privilege logudorese of Mariano, Judge of Lacan, goes up again to 1080 and is the most ancient document reached us. Yet during the celebration of the Millenary of the Italian language (1960) to the island few indications were reserved only. It was Lawrence Frattarolo to underline, in some wise man, the place of relief that competes to Sardinia in the history of the Italian language.

We have had, therefore, the influence in Genoa and Pisa, then that Spanish has taken over. The influence of the two Navy Republics consisted in the protection of the commerce and the transports, a control on commercial bases and of mutual accord (often) and not dominion in narrow sense. For the inside contrasts among Sardinians and on the juridical base of ancient "donations" (Charles Magno had given the island to the papacy that of it granted, in the period of Bonifacio VIII, the investiture to the king Aragonese Giacomo II). For the Spaniards it was relatively easy to conquer the island in the XV century with wars and rebellions that lasted up to 1478.

It was, therefore, introduced the feudalism, taxes and taxes new and unfair privileges: with the foreign domination an end was put to a period of progress in all the fields to begin one of it of oppression and paralysis. This was a period of deep crisis that is actually extended to our days and that, perhaps, as many Sardinian intellectual young people say she could finally finish.

Later alternate circumstances, sporadic but endemic rebellions, in 1718, the island already in English hand, was assigned by the Congress in London to Vittorio Amedeo II of Savoia. Since then in then it is national history that that we also study in the books of school: the history of the island is united with the history of the Piedmont and the Savoias of Italy united then before.

From 1718 the Savoias were dealt with the island. King Carlo Emanuele III (1730-1773) it realized a series of reforms political administrative to vast breath and the gratitude of the Sardinians it was well evident during the conquest of the Piedmont from the armies of the French Republic, occasion in which the island entertained the fugitive king also staying him faithful during the attempts of invasion from French. The Sardinians brought one a double victory on French (1792-93 around). A fleet commanded by the rear-admiral Truguet, tried to invade Sardinia on the coasts campidanesi, but he was rejected, risen similar he met municipal operation against the archipelago of La Maddalena.

Under the king Carlo Felice the code of civil and criminal laws was launched for Sardinia, and under Charles Alberto finally the other great reform what it still missed, the abolition of the Feudalism. This has not been a period of great comfort for the island, rather, despite the a lot of reforms (in the agriculture for instance) the comfort delayed to spread and the secular incomprehension between subjects and central governments appeared on the surface never. In the years around 1830 a sad episode is put (or more correctly a series of sad "Chiudende": with the abolition of the feuds (and that is of a form of total control of the earth entrusted to the king that lowered such power to his vassals etc., somehow institutionalizing such control, but at the same time not allowing the to create him of the real private large landed estate) she was created in Sardinia the private ownership of the earth. To the cry of "tancate", they raise the "tancas", the enclosures, that walls of stone that today they are seen also anywhere in Sardinia, whoever in the island could simply become owner of a piece of earth fencing it; but only the rich ones could be allowed to pay the laborers so that they fenced the great piece of ground of territory. They didn't miss the protests in comparison to this Edict that favored the wealthiest class the nth injustice that struck a people already oppressed.

In this way the "large landed estate" was enacted and she was excluded the collective and town ownership of the earth; a strong movement of people was determined against this situation. The answer of the government, is rightful to say it, it was a merciless repression; the corpses were counted in thousands for years of endemic revolts.

During the first world war the Sardinians, reunited in the Sassari Brigade, gave a so great test of itself to create a legend and to deserve two gold medals and the military order of Savoia. During the second instead Sardinia entertained aerial bases and suffered particularly fierce bombardments Cagliari, in May of 1943 it was almost destroyed. Ended the war she was created the Region Sardinia to special Statute (1948) and one were defeated some most ancient scourges of the island the malaria. Although still knows moments of crisis, thanks above all to the tourism the island starts by now to enjoy of a substantial comfort and she has definitely filled the discrepancy that separated it up to 50 years ago from the rest of Italy.

We now speak of a phenomenon of which is often talked relatively to excessive superficiality to Sardinia and his history, the banditry. The "Banditry" is a kind of endemic phenomenon of the island, and it is connected to two aspects; the sour-pastoral structure of the economy (on patriarchal base) of the island and the history of inside "colony" that Sardinia has characterized. The banditry has origin from the contrast among a country society and of shepherds, very ancient, with its laws and traditions (understood the terrible law of the feud) from a side and the mentality of the state by law, of the central "state" often seen as far, incomprehensible, tyrant and bureaucratic.

For centuries the shepherds have used to systematize among them the outstanding account of all the types (from the mistake to the theft of livestock). they are thought that the figure of the cattle-stealing, that is some theft of the livestock has been maintained in the Sardinian penal code really for the great diffusion of this crime in Sardinia in the first half the century. The mistrust in the institutions (that ancient mistrust that all the farmers and the people that live away from the cities have always had towards a State that he took without giving) it produces a kind of refusal of the whole imported "novelties" (the penal courts, the rigid law of the codes, for other incomprehensible, the police and the policemen that didn't often succeed in reporting to him with the people and the culture of the place).

Occurrences of relative importance according to the local mentality (serious but not dishonorable, as a duel). At this is added the payment of the taxes without never any real advantage in change, the military repression of ancient autonomies, the myth of the "sos balentes" of the strong ones, of the hard ones we could say today perhaps, the myth of the strength and the courage typical of the patriarchal and pastoral civilizations, the mistrust in the justice: the result has been the to spread some endemic phenomenon of the fugitives, that they were not always in reality and only the bandits' bandits, as the island has never been in reality "bandits' earth." All we know the mode to say "the history they write to the winners", and it is known that this is history of part for definition; we say therefore that that part of the Italian history that concerns the island, is not entirely shared (by now) from many, and of these many, are Sardinian the greatest part.

The careful visitor will also notice from the road some walls (for instance on the walls of the houses that are leaned out on the Oriental Sardinian in proximity of Olbia) with some writings type "Sardegna=Colonia" or "A fora sos colonialistas" or straight "A fora sos italianos" they mean, literally, Sardegna=Colony, out the colonialist, out Italians.

Of expressions it is treated without doubt excessive and you exasperate, symptoms of a state of diffused mind by now among many islanders, the feeling that is to have been considered before for a long time as colony of the Piedmont, of Italy then; to be neglected by the central governments, to have been used as a kind of punitive colony of the State (it is, rather it was, we hope, famous the sentence "I send to you in Sardinia", as to say, economically up to the level of the degrade ecological. It is not an exaggeration, up to last century the island was covered of woods of tall stem, dense and ancient, as it is today still Corsica. But the woods have almost all been cut and transformed in coal to favor then the take-off of the dawning Piedmont's industrial revolution, that little that was saved him he is destroyed by the pyromaniacs to the service or of their great stupidity or of some building contractors.

Such economic exploitation continues: of the enormous capitals invested in the alone island tourist sector a least part is managed to local level, the rest is capital "continental" when not exclusively foreigner. This means one missed local occupation and a small inside investment. From this the anger, therefore the refusal, the militancy "anticolonyalist" of many young people. Exasperated reactions, as we have already had the opportunity of saying, certainly, but they must be inserted, known and eventually inserted into the historical situation of the phenomenon.

Who loves the war, he has not seen it in face (Erasmus from Rotterdam)

The path for the peace is the peace (M. K. Gandhi)

You cannot choose the country where to born, You cannot choose the color of your skin, You cannot choose the relatives, but You can choose the friends. Living means to choose, to decide what to do, every day.

1.1.2 Prehistory in Sardinia Archaeology and historical signs

Summary Chart: Epoch, Age, Cultures, Material

Mesolithic

of the Iron

Roman Age

Archaeology and Historical Signs on Sardinia