Civico Museo Archeologico Ittireddu

The pluristratified site of Monte Zuighe

The particular morphology and the geographic position of Monte Zuighe,600 ma.s.l. (which is the last bulwark towards the Goceano mountains and a domain of the Chilivani plain), favoured human settlement which continued without interruption and for several millennia, from prehistory to the Middle Ages, as attested to by the findings and the remains of buildings often hidden under thick vegetation.

Megalithic wall of Su Baglittu

In the eastern area, on the top, we can observe a wall, characterised by a monumental entry and a hallway with slab covering blocks, probably ascribable to the Eneolithic phase; near the surface, lithic fragments can be found, mostly of flint.

Nuraghe Bagliu

Th nuraghe is mentioned by Taramelli: “It was situated in a narrow and small valley called Sos Coceos, below the Monte Zuighe cliffs. Today we have no sign of it”. It was on the ridge, on the southern side. Only a few blocks and tracks of the old village have remained.

Monte Zuighe village

During the Nuragic Age, an extended residential area filled the slopes of the mountain, near the nuraghe Funtana. We only have a few signs of the structures of the time, hidden under the layers of collapse, but the numerous evidence prove the presence of life until the Iron Age.

“The furnace of Monte Zuighe”

In a small flat patch of the slope we can observe a structure characterised by an elliptical plan with tholos roofing, which has been interpreted as a furnace for the presence of “vitrification traces”. It is not possible to date it.

Residential structures and cisterns of Monte Zuighe

Near the furnace we can observe some residential structures characterised by rectangular plans; some of them are provided with a silo/cistern, up to 2 m deep. These are dug in the trachytic rock and other similar structures are situated along the crest. Without excavations it hasn’t been possible to understand their specific function or chronology;  we suppose they were used for the storage of water or of agricultural products.

Funeral area

Near the top, in the central area, we can notice ditches of different shapes and dimensions, whose purpose is thought to be for funeral functions during the Roman period.

 “Castle”

“…In the far distance we see the highest mountain, conical shaped, flattened on the top and made of trachytic rock, on which we can observe the remains of the medieval castle of Monte Giuighe...”
Voyage en Sardinia, A. Della Marmora

Different aligned blocks located at the top of the ridge and, above all, a massive wall with architrave, constitute today what remains of the fortification mentioned by the sources.