The nuragic village at Sant’Imbenia
Area interesse: Archaeological SitesArea interesse: Archaeological Sites
In the splendid surroundings of the Porto Conte bay you can find the nuragic village of Sant’Imbenia dating back to the beginning of the Bronze Age (1500 – 1300 B.C.). It is made up of one central nuragic tower and two secondary ones of which today only the foundations remain and of a village with huts, lanes and open spaces partly excavated after it was discovered during digging works in the 1980es on the camping site where it is situated.
The village is an important site where the archaeologists through excavation have discovered contacts between Nuragic and Oriental people dating back to the beginning of the Iron Age (1000 – 700 B.C.). Furthermore they have discovered that the village was inhabited in three phases: From the beginning to the middle of the Bronze Age (1500 – 1300 B.C.), from the middle to the end of the Bronze Age (1300 – 1000 B.C.) and from the end of the Bronze Age to the beginning of the Iron Age (1000 – 700 B.C.)
Sant’Imbenia was a very active trade centre as it was situated in the middle of the sea routes of those times and near territories rich in metals such as silver, lead, iron and copper. Evidence of trade activities and crafts are two huts. One was used to store goods and its excavation has brought to light Phoenician and Greek ceramics among the most antique found in the western area of the Mediterranean. The other has got a basin and an oven and was the place where the inhabitants of the village baked their bread and probably practised their worship of water, considered source of life and a symbol of the Mother-goddess.
The decay of Sant’Imbenia as a very important trade centre began when the Phoenicians changed their sea routes steering for their new colonies in the south-western part of Sardinia, thus having less frequent contacts with the nuragic population.
In the splendid surroundings of the Porto Conte bay you can find the nuragic village of Sant’Imbenia dating back to the beginning of the Bronze Age (1500 – 1300 B.C.). It is made up of one central nuragic tower and two secondary ones of which today only the foundations remain and of a village with huts, lanes and open spaces partly excavated after it was discovered during digging works in the 1980es on the camping site where it is situated.
The village is an important site where the archaeologists through excavation have discovered contacts between Nuragic and Oriental people dating back to the beginning of the Iron Age (1000 – 700 B.C.). Furthermore they have discovered that the village was inhabited in three phases: From the beginning to the middle of the Bronze Age (1500 – 1300 B.C.), from the middle to the end of the Bronze Age (1300 – 1000 B.C.) and from the end of the Bronze Age to the beginning of the Iron Age (1000 – 700 B.C.)
Sant’Imbenia was a very active trade centre as it was situated in the middle of the sea routes of those times and near territories rich in metals such as silver, lead, iron and copper. Evidence of trade activities and crafts are two huts. One was used to store goods and its excavation has brought to light Phoenician and Greek ceramics among the most antique found in the western area of the Mediterranean. The other has got a basin and an oven and was the place where the inhabitants of the village baked their bread and probably practised their worship of water, considered source of life and a symbol of the Mother-goddess.
The decay of Sant’Imbenia as a very important trade centre began when the Phoenicians changed their sea routes steering for their new colonies in the south-western part of Sardinia, thus having less frequent contacts with the nuragic population.