Sardinia and the Nuraghe Santa Barbara

Sardinia and the Nuraghe Santa Barbara · Nov 10, 04:42 PM by James Martin

Many years ago I went on an archaeological project in Sardinia. We spend the first summer doing a survey of Nuraghi, the indigenous conical structures that are the symbol of ancient Sardinia.

Eventually we got permission to excavate a small village around one of them, Nuraghe Santa Barbara outside of the town of Bauladu. There was little sign of a village until we had uncovered it and the bronze production workshop within it.

Through the magic of Google Maps (if the magic is working), you can see it below. You can zoom out and see the village as well.

We also took overhead shots of the excavation. Here’s one, showing the excavation in progress. Here’s another showing a broader view of the village. (Thanks to Rob Tykot for archiving them).

The amazing thing though is that the interior of Sardinia was a wild and undiscovered place 25 years ago. Many of the directions to places like Sardinia’s famous “sacred wells” in the guidebooks were downright wrong.

Today you can just Google and go. You’ll find Sardinia, annotated by travelers. You could just grab a car and explore, finding these places with relative ease, but you’ll find them just hidden enough to make an adventure out of it. Cool.

Sardinia and the Nuraghe Santa Barbara originally appeared on WanderingItaly.com Nov 10, 2007, © James Martin,