The site of Tanca Manna, a single-towered nuraghe built on a granite outcrop and a village, is situated in the modern town of Nuoro. Interventions on the site undertaken in 2005 worked on the conservation of the tower and identified several huts from the village that originally covered a large part of the Su Nuraghe quarter. The ancient settlement grew up in a position that was strategic for the control of an important transhumance route leading to the valleys below. Four huts emerged in the excavation area. They were rectangular, with an apsidal back wall, elliptical or sub-circular in plan. Structures 1 and 2 were situated on the northern slope of the granite outcrop occupied by the nuraghe tower and structures 3 and 4 were in the immediate vicinity of the nuraghe. The huts may have had double or single pitch roofs. Numerous finds were recovered from inside the structures including tile fragments, either plain or with combed decoration, jars with thickened rims, carenated bowls, spindle whorls and a truncated pyramid shaped loom weight. These objects of everyday use document an intense domestic activity linked to an agro-pastoral economy and the practice of spinning and weaving. The earliest phase was documented by jars decorated with vertical cordons placed below the rim, of the Sa Turricola type, otherwise known as “nose” vases, boiling vessels with an internal ridge to house a lid and to prevent the boiled liquids from spilling over, a wall sherd with an elbow-shaped handle, and a foot from a Bonnanaro Culture tripod. Although the huts were unusual in plan, the architecture showed typical characteristics of the Late Eneolithic period, recognisable in the organisation of the internal spaces with raised sectors that probably served for storage of perishable dry foodstuffs such as cereals and other products that had to be kept dry. The levelled floors with flat slabs and patches of the original beaten clay surface that insulated the hut interiors were preserved. The settlement is rendered extraordinary by its early foundation date, sometime during the transition between the early Bronze Age and the initial horizon of the middle Bronze Age (Sa Turricola phase, 1700-1600 B.C.) coinciding with the formative period of the nuragic civilisation. Although this chronological horizon is attested within the settlement, it is scarcely documented throughout Sardinia and in particular in the territory of Nuoro, where it only finds partial correspondence in the nuragic complex of Talei at Sorgono.

In 2012, the University of Bologna and Nuoro town council started a research project in the Tanca Manna Park located in the Su Nuraghe district of the town. This is the site of a Bronze Age village (BM2, BM3 and BR phases) made up of a single-towered nuraghe (fig. 1) and various residential structures. The project’s main aim is to complete the recovery, and enhancement of the archaeological complex and render it visitor friendly. The 2013 campaign continued excavation of the structures uncovered by M. A. Fadda in 2005 (rooms 1, 2, 3, and 4) and enlarged the excavation area to the north (sector 1) and west (sector 2) of the nuraghe increasing the overall surface under investigation to c. 500 m2 (Fig. 2). The on-site recording included a 3D survey of the nuraghe and the excavated rooms (Fig. 3). In sector 1, the excavation of room 1 was completed. This circular structure was c. 6 m in diameter and built with large granite boulders completed by various sized blocks. The excavation reached the floor level, mostly formed by bedrock, and documented the construction phases defined by the building of the walls and insertion of fittings inside the room (Fig. 4). Sector 1 was also extended to the south with the aim of discovering the relationship between the excavated structures and the nuraghe. In this area several sections of walls were uncovered that require further extension of the excavation in order to discover whether they were actually part of rooms. Sector 2 was also extended in the area south-west of room 3, characterised by a terrace that seemed to be man-made, bordered by outcropping granite boulders and a scarp on the west side. An occupation level was exposed immediately below the surface layer, with rows of stones that rested on large natural granite boulders and abundant pottery fragments. At the end of the campaign, most of the plan of room 5 was identified (Fig. 5). It was a rectangular room on a north-south alignment and with an area of c. 18 m2 (6 x 3.1 m). Among the finds, pottery was the most abundant category, followed by obsidian flakes and spindle whorls and a moderate number of millstones and grinders. The medium and coarse impasto was very fragmentary and no complete vessels were found. Among the most interesting finds were several fragments of a jar with ribbing on the outer surface of the body, characteristic of the Sa Turricula phase and vessels with internal ledges, widespread in the Middle Bronze Age.

The 2014 campaign continued the excavations in sectors 1 and 2, which were extended, and sector 3 was opened close to the nuraghe (Fig. 1). Sector 1, north of the nuraghe of Tanca Manna, was extended towards the south and north, reaching an overall area of 250 m2. The excavation aimed to continue the areas dug in 2013 and complete the investigation of the structures identified in 2005 so that they could then be consolidated. In particular, the investigation of room 2 was completed, identifying the entrance the north end of the west wall and completing the removal of the base levels. Two new rooms, 6 and 9 (Fig. 2), were identified in the southern extension of the excavation area. Both rooms were circular, the perimeter completed for room 6, still partial for room 9. In Sector 2, to the south-west of the nuraghe, the excavation of rooms 3 and 4 continued. The investigation of room 3 was completed, which was of particular interest for its plan (rectangular with apse) and internal divisions using different types of walls (Fig. 3). The excavation of room 5 (Fig. 4) was also completed, revealing the quadrangular perimeter built with a double facing of large stones and a core of smaller stones. Sector 2 was extended to the south (c. 158 m2) covering the terrace to the edge of the scarp created by quarrying in the 1960s. An occupation phases attested by the presence of numerous Bronze Age pottery fragments was identified inside this border of large stones. Sector 3 was opened at the foot of the nuraghe, abutting the bedrock that functioned as a natural foundation for the tower (Fig. 5). The main aim was to investigate the earthwork of the nuraghe, in order to define the monument’s construction phases. Another aim was to check for the presence of dwellings similar to those in the settlement sector west of the nuraghe. To date a wall abutting the base of the nuraghe and extending to the south has been uncovered. About 13,000 finds were processed, of which only about 500 were diagnostic (pottery, obsidian, smoothed lithic industry). Among the finds, the largest category was impasto pottery, the commonest form being the cooking dish, with both low and medium height walls and flat base. Carenated bowls and jars with enlarged triangular-sectioned rims were also well-represented. The early middle Bronze Age dating was also confirmed by the presence of vessels with an internal flange.

This season, the excavations were further extended in all three sectors. In sector 1, situated north of the nuraghe, the area adjacent to rooms 6 and 9 was extended and the collapse removed from the area immediately to the south. In room 6, more of the line of the structure’s perimeter wall was exposed, identifying an earlier phase of the hut that was presumably rectangular in plan with an apse. The east and south walls were visible, while the west side was probably demolished during the construction of room 9. The latter was formed by a circular wall preserved for a length of c. 7.80 m, built with medium sized stones arranged in a double facing, an average of 0.80 m wide. In sector 2, the excavation of the rectangular rooms 3, 5, and 10 was completed. The first (10.80 x 3.80) had a short semicircular side and was divided into two areas characterised by functional structures (probable stone oven and raised rectangular platforms). Room 5 had an L shaped entrance in the south side, while the opposite side was incomplete but presumably rectilinear. To the west of room 5, some sections of wall indicated the existence of a rectangular room (10) that shared its east wall. The internal division in its northern part is characteristic of this type of architecture. The extension of the excavation to the east revealed a new rectangular structure (room 7). Two structures adjacent to the east and west walls were identified inside this room, similar to those in room 3, raised platforms with a surface of small stones. In sector 3 adjacent to the nuraghe, the south side was excavated, where a massive layer of collapse was removed, which abutted a wall interpreted as a substructure or external terracing outside the nuraghe. The latter’s continuation was exposed towards the west, its internal facing abutted by a floor surface of horizontally laid large stones and slabs. At the end of the excavation, it may be suggested that this was a terracing wall. It did not support the single-tower nuraghe, but was seen to be an independent structure built to create a narrow corridor separated from the natural rock. In addition to the floor surface, this suggestion was supported by other elements: the building of a wall that evened out the irregularities in the rock face on the inner side, and a route leading to steps on the south-east side. Lastly, the discovery of a niche, created between the boulders of natural rock gives the corridor a precise function. Despite the limited dimensions and monumentality of the external facing, this architectural intervention can be compared with a corridor nuraghe. Therefore, it cannot be excluded that this structure may belong to the first occupation phases on the granite outcrop, which were followed by the construction of the single-tower nuraghe.