L’arcipelago del Sulcis. Un’indagine tra Preistoria e Archeologia tabarchina

The Archipelago of Sulcis. An investigation between prehistory and Tabarkinian archaeology - Facing the South-Western coasts of Sardinia, the archipelago of Sulcis is formed by the major islands of Sant’Antioco and San Pietro and some minor islets. Both the archipelago and the South-Western coasts of continental Sardinia with their inland territory had been inhabited since the Early Neolithic on throughout all the phases of prehistory and proto-history. This paper presents the preliminary results of a research project - namely “Calasetta. Percorsi culturali tra passato e presente” - started in 2020 as a partnership with the town administration of Calasetta. The project aims at reconstructing the phases of human presence, the paleo-environmental frame, the natural resources exploiting strategies and the inter-island connectivity and with mainland Sardinia. Present-day available data, as derived from archaeological excavations and previous surveys, give evidence of the same cultural phenomena as recorded in Sardinia, with some peculiarities mainly inhering the exploitation and circulation of raw materials. Following a triennial ministerial concession, in 2021 an area was excavated at Campu Scià Maìn - Tupei, countryside of Calasetta, where fields survey had already revealed Neolithic and Eneolithic findings spreading on ground surface. The excavation area is characterized by sandy alluvial sediments, traditionally dedicated to vineyards cultivations by Tabarkinians settlers since 1770, when the village of Calasetta was founded. Whereas diagnostic pottery is almost absent, an amount of lithic artefacts provide the evidence of human presence in the area starting from Early Neolithic on. A peculiarly interesting aspect concerns the exploitation of lithic raw materials, among which obsidian plays the major role, followed by jasper from the island of San Pietro and other rocks whose outcrops were identified in the island of Sant’Antioco. A complex framework seems to emerge, intermingling the exploitation of local, medium-far and far acquirable raw materials, thus contributing to the shaping of intra-inland and continental Sardinia mobility system.