©  2011 John Tollefsen.   All Rights Reserved.
 

Pre-Nuragic sanctuary Monte d’Accoddi, Porto Torres, Sassari
 

 

Take a drive across Sardinia, a small island located west of Italy in the Mediterranean Sea, and you will, without a doubt, look across the landscape and see heaps of stones that, at first glance, appear to be formed by nature.  And that is exactly how I viewed them. I saw piles of rocks without really seeing them!

 

I had traveled across Sardinia on more than one occasion on business, but this time, my associate and I, who both had an interest in archeology, decided to take a closer look.

 

About halfway to Olbia, we stopped at what is called the Nuraghe at Losa.  At a distance, it looked like a cylinder in a field.  However, as we were approaching the rock form, we could see more and more details.  In fact, it was a huge structure made of giant boulders.  The most impressive sight of all was the cupola that had a ceiling that rose high above us.  Yes, there are many structures with high ceilings, but what amazed us the most was that no binding materials, such as concrete, were used in its construction.  Of course, I took some photos, but I also decided there and then to return and make a photo book of the nuraghes.

©  2011 John Tollefsen.   All Rights Reserved.
 

Nuraghe Losa, Abbasanta, Oristano

 

A Bit of History

 

Throughout time, civilizations have left structural artifacts on which archeologists ponder—when were they built, how were they built, why were they built, for what purpose were they used?  The nuraghi or nurahges (plural) are no different—around 6500 nuraghes exist today.  The scientists can research, they can guess, they can discuss, and they can agree or disagree, but they have few concrete answers.  They do agree that these stone edifices, which only exist in Sardinia, were built approximately 3-4000 years ago during the Bronze Age and they were architectural wonders for their time.

 

 

© 2011 John Tollefsen.  All rights reserved.

 

Sun rays entering the upper part of the nuraghe Armungia forming an ellipse, Armungia, Cagliari

 

 

Nuraghe, maybe derived from the Phoenician word nur meaning stone, has come to mean a hollow construction or a hollow heap of stones.  And that they are!  Some are singular conical towers, while others are more complex with multiple towers, but all are built without a foundation and with an interior cavity.  They are constructed of huge curved or rounded natural stones that are stacked on top of each other and it is the weight of these stones that have kept them in place for thousands of years.

 

© 2011 John Tollefsen.  All rights reserved.   Circular huts for habitation, nuragic village Serra Orrios, Dorgali, Nuoro

© 2011 John Tollefsen.  All rights reserved.   Circular bench enclosing a circular basin meant for religious rites, nuraghe Su Nuraxi, Barumini, Cagliari

A Photo Adventure

 

I utilized the services of a local guide, Paola, who took care of all the details like finding places to stay and eat in addition to finding the nuraghes.  She was a perfect fit for me, as she let me spend my time solely on photography.  Be sure to check around and find a guide that you feel would work well for you. 

 

© 2011 John Tollefsen.  All Rights Reserved.

Food containers in the nuragic sanctuary Santa Vittoria, Serri, Cagliari 

 

During the two weeks journey, I photographed the Tombs of Giants, mainly consisting of a long, narrow burial chamber made of giant boulders and even more giant, vertical boulders at the entrance.  The vertical stone directly in front of the burial chamber has a hemispheric-shaped hole leading to the burial chamber.  I also photographed Domus di Janas (houses of fairies), which are caves made by man and used as graves.  Moreover, the only ziggurath (a sort of elongated pyramid with a huge flat roof) outside the Middle East and dolmens (graves consisting of at least three vertical stones supporting a horizontal capstone acting as a roof) can be found in Sardinia.  All these structures have the generic name megalithic structures, meaning giant stone monuments in Greek.