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  • Calasetta
  • Campo Sciamaìn
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  • Italy
  • Sardinia
  • South Sardinia
  • Calasetta

Credits

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Monuments

Periods

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Chronology

  • 4000 BC - 1970 AD

Season

    • In 2020, the University of Sassari began this project in collaboration with the local administration of Calasetta, with the aim of reconstructing the occupation of the territory, with particular attention to the prehistoric and proto-historic phases. At the same time, the intention is to enhance and promote the territory’s cultural patrimony through the creation of archaeology events and products for the public. Earlier research in the territory of Calasetta revealed the presence of occupation from the early Neolithic period onwards. The areas of prehistoric settlement were identified by the presence of surface scatters of materials, primarily flaked lithics. Architectural remains were totally absent, probably lost due to the intense anthropological exploitation. The field work covered a vast area between the localities of Campu Scià Main (name attested on old cadastral maps and by historical and contemporary oral sources) and Tupei, where surface finds were documented during earlier research. The research objectives were: - Reconstruction of the relationships between site and environment; - Identification and delimitation of the settlement area; - Reconstruction of the settlement type; - Identification of type of use made of internal and external spaces; - Reconstruction of occupation phases; - Reconstruction of the dynamics of the use of the territory and its resources in relation to the coeval sites on the island of Sant’Antioco and in the Sulcis area, within the overall picture of prehistoric cultural developments in the western Mediterranean; - Development of available university courses, through the organisation of field courses; - Creation of archaeology and nature trails, both real and virtual. - Popularization and promotion of the cultural heritage through the organisation of public archaeology events. The data from the 2021 excavations confirm the site’s occupation from the early Neolithic period onwards. Although sporadic, there was also evidence for the final Neolithic, Punic and Roman periods, and contemporary occupation.
    • The 2022 excavations took place in an area circa 250 m west of last season’s intervention, in a zone where an earlier survey documented the presence of surface finds, including impasto pottery, lithics, mainly obsidian, and a fragment of terracotta statuette. The archaeological deposit, formed by a series of very compact clay layers, produced a lesser number of finds than that investigated in 2021. A modern area of combustion was uncovered, which overlay an occupation layer dating to the final Neolithic (Ozieri I _facies_). This was attested by diagnostic ceramic and lithics, belonging to a probable settlement area. The settlement corresponds with the most widespread type in Sardinia in this phase of prehistory, in particular in the Campidano area and hinterland of Caglieri: positioned in an area of agricultural rolling terrain, on a slight rise, and at a short distance from water.

Bibliography

    • Melis M. G., Vacca G. 2003, Insediamento e ambiente naturale nella preistoria e nella protostoria del territorio di Calasetta (CA), Studi Sardi XXXIII, Cagliari: 7-34.
    • Vacca G. 2003, Aspetti dell’industria litica dall’insediamento di Campu Scià Maìn – Tupei a Calasetta (Cagliari), Quaderni della Soprintendenza Archeologica di Cagliari e Oristano 19, Cagliari: 3-15.
    • Vacca G. 2006, Una pietra a frattura concoide utilizzata nell’insediamento di Campu Scià Maìn – Tupei a Calasetta (Cagliari), Quaderni della Soprintendenza Archeologica di Cagliari e Oristano 21: 5-19.
    • Vacca G. 2009, Tracce. Il primo popolamento dell'isola di Sant'Antioco, Cagliari.
    • Vacca G., Piras S. 2012, Due statuine fittili inedite dal Sulcis, in Atti XLIV IIPP: 1523-1527.