Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-10-12
SARDINIA RETAINS
ANCIENT CUSTOMS
"Lost Isle" Is Subject of Ma
tionaI Geographic So
ciety Bulletin.

"A traveller of fine imagination
suggests that travel involves a dou-
BILE journey-'one forward through
space, the other backward through
time Your steamboat ticket from
Civitavecchia, the port of Rome, en-
titles you to an eight-hour voyage to
Sardinia, but affords a premium OF
several thousand years backward to
Europe's earliest traceable history"
With this introduction the National
Geographic Society issues the fol-
lowing bulletin on Sardinia, when
has a double interest just now be-
cause of the reported native demand
for home rule and because Americans
have found tracts containing wolfram.
highly priced as a source of tungsten
THE contact of America adds an
other stratum to the civilizations
that have left a deposit in Sardinia.
ians opened mines there; and
there are traces that point to the
presence of Egyptians and Phoeni-
clans. In addition Vandals. Saracens
PiSans, Genoese, Spaniards and Aus
trians held sway there before it fell
to the house of Savoy and was at
tached to modern Italy.
Second only to Sicily among Med
iterranean Islands, Sardinia has beer
, referred to as the lost isle of that
sea. Geographically it has been said
to turn it's back on Italy. for its east
coast is mountainous. This isolation
has compensation in preserving the
homogeneity of a people who have
a special interest for students of ra
cial history. Sardinians are small of
stature. Even their soldiers have an
average height a fraction under FIVE
feet four inches. One theory is that
they are the purest remaining de-
scendants of the so-called Mediter
ranean race: another that they de-
scended from certain African pygmy
peoples. a speculation of peculiar in
terest in view of the present discus
sion over the reported finding OF
race of pygmies in the Belgian kon-
go by DR.. Leonard ]. Vanderbergh.
an American missionary. Lady Stan
| ley has asserted that her husband.
Henry NJ Stanley. refers to the same
little people in his book. In Darkest
Africa
"Siberin Of Roman Empire"
"Other factors than it's geography
contributed to Sardinia's isolation.
Once it was the Siberia of the Roman
Empire. and graves were kept wait
ing for some convicts. Later it was
afflicted by the medieval type of the
Kentucky feud. the vendetta. and
modern science found a new danger.
greatl.- exaggerated for time. in
ma laria.
Travellers. who find their way to
Sardinia in increasing numbers. pro-
nounce the island quaint and charm
ing. Upon approach the fragrance
of wild shrubs and herbs compliments
the appeal to the eye of a geological
disorder that is arresting. but not,
like the unromantic Alps. terrific
Not only are the people under
normal size. but this diminutiveness
extends to animals, according to some
anthropologists; condition exactly
the reverse fthat in New Zealand.
which tends to develop both animals
and plants larger than normal.
But the most conspicuous curiosi-
ties of Sardinia are it's nuraghi. great
round towers. relics of the bronze
age. which served as fortified dwell
ings for some prehistoric people.
There are 5000 or more of these
towers. some sixty feet high. usually
about thirty feet in diameter at the
base made of stone blocks and smear
ed with clay on the inside. Stairways
lead to upper chambers and plat
forms.
Old Customs in Vogue.
Interesting as are these relics of
unknown Inhabitants. even more fas-
cinating are the traces of ancient
civilizations to be found in the daily
lie OF SdTOIn1dHS OIL tOudy. oHe may
find oxen blowing as they did in the
days of the Roman Empire. imple
ments which were introduced by the
successive occupants. one Catalan
town (Alghero). where there is no
Earring note in the illusion of old
SPAIN and dances of the classic Greek
period at the mountain feSte.
"Only in Sardinia and Corsica is
the mufloni. predecessor of our sheep.
to be found. Wild deer and wild
boar are plentiful in the mountain
districts. funny fishing is a major
industry.
I'm area Sardinia is comparable to
Vermont but has more than twice
the population of that state. The
island lies directly south of Corsica,
and is separated therefrom by the
narrow straits of Bonifacio. In shape
it has been compared to a human foot
print"