What are the nuraghi of Sardinia, and who built them?

The nuraghi rise in Sardinia

Le torri nuragiche della Sardegna

c. 1700 BC. In the Bronze Age, from around 1700 BC, the people of Sardinia began to build nuraghi: cone-shaped stone towers made of huge blocks laid without mortar.

Where: Italy

What happened

In the Bronze Age, from around 1700 BC, the people of Sardinia began to build nuraghi: cone-shaped stone towers made of huge blocks laid without mortar. About seven thousand still stand across the island, though counts vary. The nuraghe builders left no writing, so nobody knows for certain what the towers were for — fortresses, homes of chiefs, meeting places, or all of these. The finest complex, Su Nuraxi at Barumini, was excavated between 1950 and 1957 by Giovanni Lilliu, an archaeologist born in the village, and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997.

Say it

In Sardegna ci sono migliaia di nuraghi, antiche torri di pietra.

In Sardinia there are thousands of nuraghi, ancient stone towers.

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