Una ricerca internazionale e interdisciplinare nel territorio di Usini (Sassari), la necropoli a domus de janas di S’Elighe Entosu
Résumé
the project was carried out between 2006 and 2009
as part of a collaboration between the University of Sassari and the town Council of Usini, aiming to promote
and enhance the cultural heritage of its territory, backed by a multi-year research fund and coordinated
by Maria Grazia Melis. An interdisciplinary team was assembled, with the collaboration of specialists from
the UMR 6636, Lampea Laboratory of Aix-en-Provence, lead by André D’Anna. the research aimed to reconstruct
the environmental and socio-economic framework of human inhabitants, of the prehistoric phases,
encompassing the territory that gravitates around the hypogean necropolis of S’Elighe Entosu. the knowledge
of the area, in fact, is due to a clever politic development. the interests of involved researchers then extended
to the entire territory and accommodated to a larger land mass, which exceeds the municipal
boundaries.
the main instruments used in the survey are the archaeological excavation of a necropolis and prospecting of
the area. the first one, still unfinished, allowed for a partial reconstruction of the sequence of human settlements
and the use of this prehistoric necropolis. it also exposed the existence of a Roman necropolis. the
study of the monuments in their territory, incorporates multidisciplinary research, directed by André D’Anna,
and integrates different coordinated surveys, the characterization of natural resources (flint outcrops, geological
formations, sedimentary dynamics and natural environment) associated to the improvement of the
archaeological map, from archaeological surveys of large surfaces, and the technological study of stone artifacts
and their material origins. these activities help to improve understanding of settlements’ characteristics
in a territory according to the guidelines from the methods of regional archaeology and human geography.
the archaeological sites census was inserted in 2010 for the purposes of the City Urban Planning at the Regional
Landscape Plan.
An analysis of craft production, carried out with a morphological and technological approach, has helped to
better define the chrono-cultural sequence of the necropolis’ use, frequented during the ozieri, Sub-ozieri,
Bell Beaker, Middle Bronze Age 1 and 2, Late and final Bronze Age, iron Age, Punic and Roman phases. As
for the technological characteristics of the pottery, a first analysis has been made on macroscopic examination
of the diagnostic materials from various cultural phases that have allowed the identification of a variety
of techniques, processes and tools used in the stages of shaping, finishing and decorating. the study of the
flint industry, although only partial, showed patterns of supply and management of resources, either by raw materials choice or by the finds typology. those last ones’ presence refers to issues related to the meaning of
their presence in burial contexts, either from a symbolic standpoint or in terms of technology. the analysis of
the hard animal material artifacts was carried out on some ornamental shell dating back to Bell Beaker period.
in addition to brief remarks on the usage marks, have been rebuilt the operative sequences of simply
bored pendants, pearls and shell.
With the help of geographical, architectural data and those from chemical, physical, archaeobotanic, archaeozoologic,
paleoanthropological analyses, and also from experimental archaeology, the research constitutes
in itself an innovative methodological proposal for Sardinia.