The well-known nuragic site of Su Nuraxi at Barumini, in central-southern Sardinia, was uncovered in the 1950s by Lilliu. The archaeological complex is constituted by an imposing nuraghe with four bastion towers surrounded by a curtain wall, and a complex village that spread out around it, with a greater concentration of structures on the eastern side. In 1997, it was added to Unesco’s list of world heritage sites. In 2015, the University of Cagliari renewed research on the site in collaboration with the Archaeological Superintendency of Sardinia.
Work took place in three sectors: the area to the north-east of the settlement, the so-called “tower-hut” (abutting the south-east tower of the curtain wall), and hut 197.
No structures were present in the first sector, confirming the north-eastern limit of the village. In the tower-hut, the excavation of the deposit that was not removed during Lillu’s excavations revealed the bedrock on which the structure was built. Lastly, in hut 197, excavation of residual layers revealed, abutting the north facing of the hut, a small well similar to those of the Lower Nuragic Phase 1 of nearby hut 135 (the interpretation of which has recently been revised). Inside the well there were several pottery vessels (attributed by a preliminary examination to the Final Bronze Age), including a “calefattoio” with ribbed appendages, containing charcoal and bone fragments from small animals (currently being studied). The radiometric analyses will be able to provide dating for this important phase of the village, in accord with the hut’s stratigraphy.