The campaigns undertaken from 1999 onwards in the area surrounding the Sirai Nuraghe at Carbonia have brought to light foundations covering circa one hectare, surrounded by fortifications over 6 m wide. The structure of the fortifications was particularly evident in the north-eastern sector (Sector B), where an earthwork comprising blind spaces filled with earth and stones (end of the 7th century B.C.) was uncovered. In the north-western sector (Sector A) excavations had already revealed a pedestrian gate, (last quarter of the 7th century B.C.), oriented towards the north, and also a substantial part of the internal structure of the fortress. The latter comprised an annular quarter (insula α), built abutting the fortifications, a road (road 1), an internal insula connected to the gate structure (insula β), and an insula comprising an elliptical construction linked to other constructions with circular and elliptical plans (insula γ). The construction which seemed to have a central role in the complex was hut 2, with an elliptical plan and the entrance to the east. The first building phase, the chronology of which is still uncertain, included a structure with a circular plan (2.20 m diam.), built with squared blocks, connected to a double monolithic tank. A structure with an elliptical plan, which covered the circular building with its northern cusp, belonged to the second construction phase. The 2008 excavations concentrated on Sector A in the fortified settlement. _North-western fortifications_ The investigations provided a first definition of the tops of the walls delimiting the fortified earthwork to the west of the north gate, and a series of rooms built inside it. A tract of the pre-existing nuraghe defensive wall, on average 1.25 m wide, the surface of the earthwork’s fill comprising packed stones and soil, and a number of the broken tracts of the earthwork’s external walls were uncovered. Inside, abutting the nuraghe defensive wall, five quadrangular walls were identified (insula ε), situated between the latter and an irregular internal perimeter to the south. _Insula γ_ Isolated patches of the paved surface of Road 2 (SE-NW), made up of irregular flat stones, was uncovered on a tangent to the cusp of hut 2. The road’s makeup of neatly packed small stones was also uncovered. The terminus ante quem was given by the chronology of the collapse above (second half of the 7th-full 6th century B.C.). Inside hut 2 the removal of layer 105 (second half of the 7th-first half of the 6th century B.C.), begun in the previous campaign, was completed. The substantial deposit of collapsed mud bricks (on average 1 m deep) covered another deposit in the inner part of the perimeter of the circular building (probably a sacred fountain). This was similar in form, that is higher in the centre and sloping down towards the circular structure’s bench. In the central part of the room numerous small slabs appeared but were not sufficiently close to each other to attest that they formed a pavement. Some, found placed on edge, had clearly been in contact with fire. Destruction by fire would also explain the blackened walls in the southernmost part of the room and the appearance of a thin layer of ash spread in a uniform manner in this zone. The investigations concluded with the excavation of the deposits inside the intact double tank in the centre of the room. There was a hole between the two parts of the tank at floor level. The evidence from the previous campaign suggested that hut 2 had a religious function, suggestion that has been fully confirmed by a careful structural comparison with the nuraghic fountain of Sedda’e Sos Carros (Oliena, prov. of Nuoro), which is of similar construction technique, size and furnishing.

The aim of the 2009 campaign undertaken at the orientalising fortress (circa 625-550 B.C.) of the Nuraghe Sirai was to uncover the structure of the fortifications in the central sector (sector B) and continue stratigraphic investigations of a construction adjacent to the doorway (sector A) for which there was evidence to suggest that it was probably a sacred area (hut 2). SECTOR B The investigations confirmed the structure of the fortifications as seen in other sectors of the fortress, that is embankments constituted by adjacent blind chambers. The residual summit of the embankment’s external wall, circa 5 m thick, built to the east of the doorway, the surface of the stone and earth fill and a wall perpendicular to the external wall and to that of the pre-existing nuragic wall were uncovered. Inside the nuragic wall was found a block of rooms placed side by side, similar to the three already uncovered in the previous campaigns SECTOR A Hut 2 At least two building phases were identified inside hut 2. The first phase was represented by a circular construction, with a religious function, of a type datable to the nuragic Iron Age I (9th and first third of the 8th century B.C.): a so-called rotunda (of circa 2.20 m in diameter) with a floor of large stone slabs on which rested a circular sedile, open to the south-east and three courses of the walls in regular blocks. Associated with the latter structure were the remains of a vaulted roof in small blocks of pink tufaceous limestone, a rectilinear wall on a tangent and, to the south-west, a monolithic rectangular basin formed by two communicating tanks and lastly, to the east, another wall of large rough hewn blocks. The second building phase (second half of the 7th-first half of the 6th century B.C.) was represented by the adaptation of the oval construction, open to the east, with a wall that covered the circular building and the structures of the western wall, whose external facing showed the characteristic “herring bone” construction technique. The floor, a beaten surface of orange clay, was at the same height as the surface of the pre-existing nuragic sedile. The circular room was filled and covered with the same clay as used for the floor; one of the two tanks in the double basin continued to function. A votive deposit (deer horn and stone spindle whorls) and several amulets (Horus and a Silenus mask) indicate that the area also had a sacred function in the orientalising period. This was supported by other elements such as the pre-existence of a sacred nuragic monument; the position adjacent to the doorway; the presence of pre-existing sacred furnishings and of a probable altar outside and finds, in the previous campaigns, of votive objects (a stiletto, a fragment of votive sword, a bronze bracelet) on the cobbled surface outside hut 2.

The campaign concentrated on the internal structure of the fortress in the N-E quadrants (Sector B) and the excavation of the southern room of the elliptical construction (Hut 2 south, Sector A), with the aim of defining the functional and chronological relationships of a sacred area uncovered here during the previous campaign. _Sector A_ Following the removal of the humus and a first level of collapse, an earlier deposit of varied composition was reached. To the east numerous nucleuses of baked clay appeared, belonging to the original ceiling. The clay presented grooves of varying diameter and depth impressed by the canes and branches on which it rested. On the same level in the central part of the room there were accumulations of bricks or fragments of unbaked marine clay which certainly came from the walls. In the southern part of the room the collapse covered various features: a hearth, a tank linked to a kiln of which the circular floor and the spring line for its walls were preserved together with fragments of baked clay. Beside the kiln was a small angular room whose function has yet to be established. The collapse US 183 (and also the collapses inside the features = 183) produced numerous objects confirming the use of hut 2 south for metalworking activity: four fragmentary millstones, various grinders, a pestle and over 10 coti; iron slag, fragments of pottery vessels containing ferrous deposits interpretable as crucibles; a water bucket found in fragments inside the tank, and lastly numerous iron objects including two points and a lance tip. The pottery dated to between the last quarter of the 7th and the first half of the 6th century B.C. _Vicolo 2_ South of the hut an entry threshold to hut 2 south was identified, in a position slightly off of what would have been the ideal central axis. South of the vicolo, a new entrance and two rooms which have begun to appear to the west of the entrance seem to indicate the presence of a new block, (block θ) developing around a central room. _Sector B_ The extension of the excavation to an unexplored area of the settlement (zone η) revealed the presence of a rectangular building (circa 8 x 3.90/4.50 m), and the tops of three of the four perimeter walls of another building. The latter was parallel to the first and separated from it by a pathway with an average width of 2.50 m. South of the second building, at a distance of about 1.50 m another rectilinear structure was identified, in a parallel position to the buildings described above. Thus, the evidence has provided several elements that are of use for the understanding of the internal structure of the fortress: the series of rectangular buildings parallel to one another shows a different and more regular layout than that in Sector A. This confirms a possible arrangement in radial sectors and the presence of an annular road abutting the defensive walls.

Nella campagna di scavo del 2011 presso la fortezza del Nuraghe Sirai, si sono estese le indagini verso i quadranti occidentali delle fortificazioni e dell’insediamento e si è conclusa l’indagine stratigrafica del settore meridionale di un edificio ellittico (Capanna 2), e del circostante vicolo 2 per le fasi coeve (isolato γ, Settore A). _Settore Occidentale_ Le indagini hanno dato risultati molto interessanti dal punto di vista topografico, evidenziando le creste murarie riferibili a complessi quasi interamente leggibili in un’area molto vasta del villaggio (ca 250 mq). Interessante è la circolazione di questo settore; le costruzioni si affacciano infatti su un vicolo che con un percorso a gomito si inerpica verso il centro del villaggio,con un fondo a rampa che supera i salti di quota. I materiali ceramici si datano dal VII al pieno VI secolo a.C. _Isolato γ_ Nell’isolato γ, si è indagato il vano Sud dell’ambiente ellittico, seminterrato e accessibile mediante alcuni scalini. E’ stato completato lo scavo delle installazioni in parte già messe in luce. Sul lato settentrionale si trovano un piccolo vano angolare, una vasca trapezoidale e, all’angolo NO, uno spazio coperto di alcune lastre su pavimento e pareti. Al centro si trova una fornace complessa, a forma di 8, composta di due vani per la combustione; al suo interno si è trovato, un consistente strato di ceneri con frammenti significativi di legni combusti o semicombusti. A nord la fornace si appoggia al muretto meridionale della vasca centrale; il muretto est della stessa costituisce anche la parete del piccolo vano angolare NE, che sembra essere una camera da fuoco; al suo interno, annegata nella matrice di crollo si trovava una grande massa di frammenti concotti, forse riferibili alla copertura dell’edificio. Nel settore occidentale della stanza oltre al piccolo vano angolare NO, la cui funzione era verosimilmente legata all’uso dell’acqua, è stata messa in luce una piattaforma quadrata realizzata con ciottoli piani, immediatamente adiacente ad una terza fornace, realizzata nell’angolo SO e delimitata da due muretti di un solo filare. Fra la fornace centrale e la camera da fuoco NE, si sono trovate due fosse, una circolare, l’altra irregolare, forse connesse all’uso di un mortaio poggiato sul pavimento e ancora riempito di un sottile deposito cinereo contenente conchiglie e piccoli ossi. La Capanna 2 Sud può essere interpretata come un luogo produttivo legato alla lavorazione e alla trasformazione dei minerali. Si noterà subito la grandissima quantità di macine, macinelli e pestelli e un mortaio, con numerose tracce di minerali; un piccolo cumulo di frammenti di quarzite rosa; il mortaio per la frantumazione di ossi e conchiglie (la cui quarzite e carbonato di calcio era utilizzabile come additivo nelle prime fasi della lavorazione del vetro). Si osserverà inoltre una gran numero scorie vetrose che testimoniano diversi gradi di fusione dei minerali. Nella camera meridionale della fornace vi sono numerosi crogioli in terracotta, alcuni con residui di contenuto di natura ferrosa e silicea; si evidenzia infine la vicinanza della camera da fuoco NE con la vasca trapezoidale, cui si connette una situla e il fondo di una giara; a questi contenitori sono da connettere almeno 4 attingitoi (dippers). I materiali ceramici indicano un arco di tempo compreso fra la fine del VII e i primi decenni del VI sec. a.C.

As part of an investigation of the structure of the fortifications, excavations were undertaken in the zone in front of the fortified embankments on the north-eastern side of the fortress. In the westernmost part, an artificial dump covering the base of the earthworks’ stone footing was uncovered. On a slightly slanted alignment, it had a clay matrix and contained food remains and pottery and charcoal fragments. In the central part of the excavation, a second wall with a double facing of headers and stretchers (0.50 to 0.70 m wide) was uncovered, situated from between a few centimetres to over one metre away from the earthworks. In some stretches, it again covers the earthworks, in others it constitutes a containing wall to support the sagging of the external perimeter of orthostats, caused by the excessive internal thrust of the earthwork. North of the new line, the beaten floor surface of an interior walkway was uncovered. A third wall, on average 2.5 m from the second, was also characterised by a double facing of headers and stretchers (average width 0.70 m). From east to west, the wall presented a threshold (c. 1.70 m wide), a little tower (also 1.70 m wide and projecting for c. 0.50 m), which therefore protected it on the east side, a watchtower with cobblestone paving (opening c. 0.90 m), and a channel with a funnel-shaped section, paved with flat cobblestones, which collected the water from the upper road surface. Underneath the threshold, there was a cut in the bedrock, the edge of a funnel-shaped housing that was closed on the opposite side by a small wall. This feature also related to rainwater collection. At about 15 m from the beginning of the walkway, the traces of the third wall disappeared. However, a residual course of a wall running parallel to the third wall, and of another parallel but more internal wall were documented, which seemed to enclose a passageway towards the interior of the walkway. At about a metre north of the third defensive wall an important productive structure was uncovered, a pottery kiln. The plan and internal structure were clearly of the eastern type that then spread into the central and western Mediterranean, although the structure presented two interesting peculiarities: it was subaerial (not set into the ground) and the inner lining of the furnace was made of small irregular slabs of white rhyolite that was very blackened and damaged by the high temperatures. Preliminary interpretation of the construction phases Phase I. (end of the 7th-first decades of the 6th century B.C.) A scarp protecting the embankment foundations and a fortified external line at about 1.80 m from the embankment were built. Phase II. (first half of the 6th century B.C.) The containing wall for the embankments was built. The earlier second wall was probably razed in this period, and was covered by a dump of material and the beaten floor surface of the inner walkway. Lastly, the third defensive wall was built.

The 2013 campaign concentrated on the eastern sector of the fortress, to date unexplored, with the aim of investigating the relationship between the nuraghe, its presumed defensive wall, and the foundation of the Iron Age II fort. _Eastern fortifications_ Outside the nuragic enclosure wall of the pre-existing village (USM 530), underneath a sparse clay deposit (US 1001) originating from the collapse of the mud brick walls, an oblique scarp of packed earth and small stone fragments (US 1025) was seen to abut the enclosure wall. To the east of the earthworks a number of finds completed the picture of the fortifications: the east perimeter of the earthworks had a toothed profile; there was a small stairway (USM 611, quadrants 102-103H) built of a single course of rough-hewn stone blocks adjacent to and bonded with the perimeter. At the foot of the steps the terrain was formed into two stepped landings (USM 612) contained by a facing of stone courses. A curved projecting stretch of the enclosure wall (USM610), about 5 m in length, was identified that could have been a curved tower, later filled during the construction of the scarp. _Block K_ A new block (K) was identified inside the fortifications, separated from the enclosure wall by a ramped passageway about two metres wide. Only the first layer of collapse was removed in one of the rooms, however the block appears to be made up of groups of rooms built in different phases. A first block, on a NE-SW alignment, was formed by two rooms (K1 and K2), with slightly curved walls and sub-rectangular and trapezoidal plans. The entrances were diametrically opposed to one another, one in the east corner, and the other in the west corner. A second block of rooms, attested by the wall crests and in the surfaces of the underlying collapses, developed to the south of and seemingly abutted the first. This second block was on a N-S alignment, parallel with enclosure wall 530. The following hypothetical building phases have been reconstructed based on the physical and stratigraphic relationships between the excavated deposits: _Phase I_. (Iron Age I, pre 7th century B.C.) Phase of the enclosure wall surrounding the nuragic village (USM 530); rooms K1 and K2 in block K also probably date to this phase or a phase predating the foundation of the fort. _Phase II_ (Phase I of the fort, c. 625-575 B.C.) The creation of the earthworks, the construction of the toothed eastern perimeter including the steps and terracing, date to the fort’s first phase. In the same phase, the scarp south of the earthworks was built that slopes down to a second, curved enclosure wall (USM 1022), whose date remains to be established. The part of block K that develops to the south might date to the fort’s first phase.

Excavations took place in three different sectors: the area north-east of the fortress with open area excavations in area λ and the complete excavation of room B in the warehouse, and of one of the rooms in block K. In addition, investigation of the nuragic complex itself began, with the aid of a crane. Area Λ and room B of the warehouse. Open area excavations were undertaken in Area Λ in order to document its topography. The removal of US 0 revealed several sub-elliptical buildings, including a small complex of two modules with walls that were straight on the long sides and curvilinear on the ends, and a large construction ( λ1) with an entrance preceded by a platform and a paved surface. Room B (3 x 2.40 m) was situated between the earthworks of the first phase of the fortress. The investigations went down to a floor surface (US 618) in phase with a truncated cone-shaped kiln (USM 620) made of stones and unbaked clay (US 616), of uncertain function and covered by a sequence of two collapses (US 507 and 504). The group in phase with the floor and kiln constitutes the remains of an open area relating to phase I of the fortifications, later incorporated into the fortified warehouse. Chronology US 618,USM 620: c. 625-575 B.C. _BLOCK K_ Within block K, comprising two straight-curvilinear spaces, the excavations concentrated on space K2, interpretable as an open-air craft space. In phase with the walls (standing to up to 2 m), a beaten clay surface (US 1027) was exposed that was on different levels due to a system of slopes, channels, pits and vats for the collection and use of rain water. A system of channels was fed by rainwater, which from the entrance passageway was channelled into one of the walls (USM 1012) to exit in the north corner. From here, it was channelled into three vats, in the first of which there was evidence of a stone-slab facing (USR 1037). In the third tank, the water settled before overflowing into a last vat situated in the east corner. The latter’s floor was lined with small slabs and the water flowed out through a small hole in the foundations of USM 1014. A small square kiln, probably a limekiln, was built later over the second vat. (USM 1053, USM 1057). These features were covered by a first layer of collapse (US 1026) with a very black ashy matrix, the result of a fire that destroyed a wooden pergola and mixed with collapse US 1024, which had a loose yellowish matrix and was present in several patches in US 1026. US1026 contained several fragmented containers (reconstructable), in particular crucibles and cooking pots. The successive layer contained numerous objects of daily use found _in_ _situ_: slab-shaped “millstones”, grindstones and a large number of collapsed pottery vessels, grouped in the north corner, perhaps originally positioned on shelves: amphorae (at least three, one containing lime), jars, cooking pots, lamps, and dippers. The subsequent collapse of mud brick wall US 1023, on average 80 cm deep and very compact/hard, also contained reconstructable ceramic vessels and lithic implements (primarily sharpeners) concentrated along the south-east side, and which had also fallen to the ground. Chronology US 1027 and UUSS in phase: c. 625-575 B.C. _SECTOR I, NE QUADRANT OF THE QUADRI-LOBED STRUCTURE_ The investigations begun in Sector I in the northern part of the quadric-lobed complex, between the north tower and the one east of the external bastion, involved the removal of US 2000. This was formed by recent collapses of the blocks from the towers and the walls of the bastion nuraghe. A dry-stone wall (USM 2001) was also removed, probably dating to the final years of the 19th century, partially built using blocks from the nuraghe itself. The first result of this work is the improved legibility of the monument, the tops of the walls of the curtain wall and the towers of the bastion are now more clearly visible.

Excavations in the fortress concentrated on building β, in block γ situated in the sacred area. A second lot of work began on the multi-lobed complex. Quadrangular building  was made up of two adjacent and non-communicating rooms; part of the rear wall was rounded as it was built on top of a pre-existing circular structure. Based on the physical and stratigraphical relationship between the deposits (all the pottery from the humus to the collapses, dated to within the first half of the 6th century B.C.), two main building phases are suggested: The first construction phase, probably dating to the Iron Age I documented in room 2 was represented by two buildings with a curvilinear plan (USM 59 and USM 254) and a floor of basoli (US 255) and slabs (US 256, US 257). The phase relating to the construction of the building (late 7th-first half of the 6th centuries B.C.), in room 2 saw the razing of the earlier curvilinear structure, used as the foundation for the eastern perimeter wall (USM 61), a levelling layer made up of stones (US 276), and dumped materials (US 245). A foundation trench (-US 281) was left in this fill for the north wall riempita a sacco (US 260), while the other foundations (USM 261 and USM 258) actually coincide with the surface of the make up/loose foundation. It is suggested that the floor surface was made up of timber planks, as there was no beaten earth surface in phase with the creation of a hearth (USM 246, USR 247), which covers the bed of stones. Room 1. The same massicciata/loose foundation (US 280=US 276) formed the base of an arrangement formed by the foundations and perimeter walls (respectively UUSSMM261,265,264,263 e 56,23,46,47,113); a beaten earth floor (US248), in which a platform (USM278), and the foundations of a wall (USM277), both made of small cobblestones, were embedded; a system of channels on the south side of the room (US266, US269), linked to other perpendicular subterranean channels (US275, US282); the second of these departed from a circular pit (-US 271). The system of channels and the pit were all lined with minute stone plaques (UUSSRR 267,270, 272,273). The building’s function seems to be linked to activities involving the use of water (system of channels with underground drainage in room 1), and fire (hearths/kilns in room 2 and remains of terracotta kilns in sector N of room 1). Considering the structural relationship with the adjacent sacred area it is possible that room 1 was used for the butchering, washing and first burning of animals, while the adjacent room 2, small and focused around the kiln, was where the total cremation of the animals took place. The excavation of the poly-lobed complex (north-eastern and north-western sides) began with the removal of a deposit of humus, mainly situated on a mound that may represent the summit of the defensive wall. The excavation of the underlying deposit (US2005), which on the summit of the nuraghe was only covered by the collapse fuori terra/above ground, showed it to be a substantial Aeolian deposit with a matrix of yellowish earth and the results of the disintegration of the surfaces of the construction blocks. The removal of this deposit revealed a stretch of the curtain wall incorporating the east tower; a previously unidentified tower (NE tower), of which the upper _tholos_ chamber was fully excavated, paved with stone slabs and beaten clay (US2006 and USR2007); a continuous curtain wall that surrounded the central tower and included the north tower of the complex. The latter curtain wall abutted the NE tower. The deposit produced materials dating from the Recent Bronze Age until the early medieval period. The majority of the finds, dating to the Iron Age I, together with an intact bowl (probably fallen from a niche inside the NE tower) attest intense occupation of the site at least until that period.

I lavori si sono concentrati sul complesso polilobato e nell’area dell’antico laghetto naturale contermine alle fortificazioni. Nel primo ambito, le indagini hanno riguardato l’area del presumibile cortile del complesso (Settore V), al cui interno, dopo un esiguo deposito di _humus_, si è verificata la presenza dello stesso altissimo deposito unitario di origine eolica che copre l’intero complesso per diversi metri di spessore (US 2005); tale US, la cui matrice include un’alta percentuale di piccoli frammenti cristallini di disfacimento dei blocchi del Nuraghe, copriva, nelle quote più alte, un’opera in muratura (USM 2013), appoggiata al mastio e orientata N/S, verosimilmente verso la torre Sud del complesso. Il muro divide l’area del cortile in due differenti settori; uno di essi, il Settore V2, situato a Est, è in comunicazione con la torre NE del Nuraghe, l’altro (Settore V1) ha restituito numerosi blocchi finemente lavorati (c.d. “conci a T” e “a cuneo”), in riolite bianca locale, che sono certamente da riferirsi alla parte superiore degli elevati del complesso, e ipoteticamente ad una fase di ristrutturazione successiva alla costruzione originaria. Un altro possibile intervento di ristrutturazione si può individuare in una seconda muratura che, appoggiata al Mastio, ne rifascia il perimetro nel Settore V2, con spessore e tecnica costruttiva nettamente differente. I rari materiali ceramici restituiti dall’US 2005 coprono tutto l’arco cronologico di frequentazione del complesso. Nel secondo ambito, in seguito ad una campionatura casuale sistematica, e poi in conseguenza dei primi risultati, sono stati realizzati 13 saggi di scavo. L’esiguità del numero di manufatti restituiti dall’ _humus_ (US 0), moderni e coevi alla fasi di frequentazione della fortezza ma fortemente fluitati, ha immediatamente configurato l’area come fuori sito. Le indagini, comunque proseguite con campionature significative, hanno individuato in tutto il settore meridionale del bacino uno strato pressoché sterile, di consistenza molto dura e attribuibile alla formazione naturale dei suoli di natura alluvionale (US 3001); al centro, invece, l’ _humus_ copriva una sorta di riempimento di pietre piccole e medie (US3002) annegate nel sottostante strato di argilla (US 3003). Quest’ultimo si è poi rivelato come un deposito naturale (dello spessore di 1,10 mt in questo punto) formatosi, a partire dal IV- II secolo a.C., sopra il fondo originario del laghetto, individuato in seguito da un sondaggio geologico e costituito da uno strato di sabbie consolidate. Nel settore settentrionale l’ _humus_ copriva invece un altissimo strato omogeneo di matrice sabbiosa di colore giallastro pressoché sterile (US 3006). Le indagini hanno in generale riportato la totale assenza di manufatti architettonici coevi al periodo di frequentazione del Nuraghe e della fortezza, nonché di periodi posteriori (punico e romano). Nel contempo, tuttavia, hanno portato alla conoscenza sia dell’antico fondo del laghetto (fino al III-II sec. a.C.), nonché della costante presenza dell’acqua nell’invaso, ed infine di una sistemazione complessiva di epoca moderna (XIX –XX secolo d.C.): una canaletta di sezione “a v”, tagliata nel terreno e rivestita di lastre sul fondo, garantiva sia l’ingresso delle acque meteoriche verso il bacino che l’uscita in caso di “troppo pieno”, mentre una sorta di rivestimento a piccoli ciottoli dell’orlo meridionale del laghetto era probabilmente funzionale a far avvicinare uomini e greggi all'acqua. Nel futuro si intende conservare comunque questa sistemazione, armonizzandola con eventuali interventi di valorizzazione. Durante le indagini di scavo sono state portate avanti le attività di restauro conservativo della cortina e della torre NE del Nuraghe.

The 2017 campaign was dedicated to three activities: 1) continuation of the topographical survey of the settlement; 2) restoration work on the tannery (room K2) and the sacred area of the fortress (rooms γ2 e β2); 3) documentation, study and publication of the excavation data. The topographical survey, begun in 2016, was completed in 2017 and also involved digitizing the earlier documentation (based on surveys undertaken in previous years by Ati Ifras), and digitization of the excavation data from the areas investigated to date. The processed topographical data was used to create a general map of the settlement, which takes into account fundamental functional elements, such as the complete circuit of the Iron Age I walls, and the Iron Age II extension of the fortifications in the north and north-eastern quadrants (fig. 1). In addition, a general plan of the areas of the fortified site excavated to date, indicating the “quarters” and individual rooms, has been extrapolated from the topographical map. The second line of activity was dedicated to the restoration/conservation of the site and included a series of interventions on exposed surfaces in the most important areas excavated to date, in particular the beaten clay floors to which biocide was applied. The third activity involved the graphic documentation and study of the occupation contexts investigated thus far, while the publication regarded the latter (with the complete publication of the diagnostic pottery) and all areas excavated to date. The pottery production was studied not only from the morphological-typological point of view but also looked at technological and archaeometrics, through the proposal of a new method of classification for pottery production in the settlement during the local Iron Age II.

Excavations took place in an area situated at the foot of the village fortifications, north of the second fortified line. The removal of the humus (US0) in the zone closest to the fortifications revealed a series of small channels running south-north created by emphasising the natural fractures in the rock (probably using a chisel, -US709). At about 10 m from the fortifications, two parallel cuts (-US710), about 1 m apart and perpendicular to the channels, delimit a larger channel and interrupt the system, directing a substantial part of the rainwater flow to the east. Further north, where the rock takes on the appearance of a high irregular outcrop, fragmented by natural fissures orientated north-south, the system took on a different appearance: a dense network of channels with perfectly cut vertical walls (-US712), in some parts rather deep (up to 40 cm), orientated north in continuity with those situated to the south. This network also included small transverse channels, often oblique, which when necessary probably diverted the water towards the east, downhill, where collecting basins may be present, or even a moat that could surround the lower part of the hill. As regards the stratigraphy, between the humus and the bedrock, intermediate surfaces formed by more compact soil were found at several points, in some cases (UUS 700, 702,US 705, 706) interpretable as artificial dumps in pressed earth and cobbles used to level the surfaces in which the channels ran. Continuing in the main direction of the channels (north), in correspondence with a high rocky outcrop, several collecting vats were uncovered. One of them had a sub-circular perimeter (-US714) whose surface had been evened using round-pointed chisels, as attested by the repeated marks visible on the rock surface. Based on the physical and stratigraphic relationships between the deposits and the excavated structures, the system of channels seemed to indicate a correlation with the stratigraphic contexts relating to the second line of defences (575-560/550 B.C.). However, given the lack of a secure dating for the levelling deposits it cannot be excluded that the water collection system predates the entire fortification system and that the latter was adapted to a pre-existing structure. As regards function, it is suggested that this was a system for rainwater collection. Given its capillary ramifications, it could have different destinations: part of it could terminate in collecting basins at an upper level, for various uses, thanks to a long decantation course; in part, according to need, it could flow into cisterns or even to a possible moat or channel associated with agricultural activity. The presence of cuts and small perpendicular channels running east could also be explained by the possibility of needing to divert the water from its main course to avoid “overflow”.