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Excavation

  • Sas Bogadas
  • Sas Bogadas
  •  
  • Italy
  • Sardinia
  • Province of Nuoro
  • Bortigali

Tools

Credits

  • The Italian Database is the result of a collaboration between:

    MIBAC (Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali - Direzione Generale per i Beni Archeologici),

    ICCD (Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione) and

    AIAC (Associazione Internazionale di Archeologia Classica).

  • AIAC_logo logo

Summary (English)

  • To date Sas Bogadas is the only documented example of a nuragic bridge found in Sardinia. It was discovered in 1994 and there are those who had, or still have, doubts regarding such an attribution.

    A bridge is a construction requiring a great amount of skill and was only used by evolved civilisations such as the Egyptians or Mycenaeans (contemporary with the nuragic civilisation).
    The structure must have had a very important function within the territory, given that it was used for a long period, with minor rebuilds, even in recent times. Its attribution to the nuragic culture is based on the observation of its architectural characteristics, such as the megalithic blocks and construction in rows wedged with small stones. The monument was cleaned and surveyed in June-July 2000.

    The structure is 29 m long and 2.60 to 3.00 m wide, with a maximum preserved height of 1.80 m. It is constituted by two rows of great basalt ashlar blocks with an infill of tiny stones and stands in two parts, one on each side of the Murtazzolu stream. It may be suggested that the two sides were originally connected by wooden beams. One of the two sides presents a rectangular opening for the passage of flood waters.

    The construction technique with horizontal beams finds significant parallels in Egypt. In the absence of pottery and other material in clear association with the bridge, the most likely dating is the 9th-8th century B.C., when Sardinia opened to Africa and the eastern Mediterranean.

    The geographical area in which the monument stands has always been used for agro-pastoral activities and is faraway from the busiest roads and trade routes, a condition which has preserved the bridge, a structure which would normally be the first to be destroyed in times of upheaval.

  • Alba Foschi Nieddu - Soprintendenza Beni Archeologici delle Province di Sassari e Nuoro 
  • Isabelle Paschina 

Director

Team

  • Antonio Farina
  • Franco Tendas
  • Gian Carmelo Melis

Research Body

  • Soprintendenza Beni Archeologici delle Province di Sassari e Nuoro

Funding Body

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