page_title: History of Italy
section_title: Nuragic civilization
hierarchical_section_title: History of Italy / Prehistory / Nuragic civilization
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Su Nuraxi (deutsch „die Nuraghe“, ein prähistorischer Turmbau) ist die am besten erhaltene Groß-Nuraghe auf Sardinien. Sie thront auf einer Anhöhe einen Kilometer außerhalb des kleinen Ortes Barumini in der Provinz Medio Campidano.English: Su Nuraxi is a nuragic archaeological site in Barumini, Sardinia, Italy. The complex is centred around a three-storey tower built around the 16th century BC.Français&#160;: Su Nuraxi est un site archéologique sur lequel se trouvent les vestiges d'un ensemble de constructions défensives préhistorique situé à l'ouest de Barumini dans la province du Medio Campidano en Sardaigne.
context_page_description: The history of Italy covers the Ancient Period, the Middle Ages and the modern era. In antiquity, Italy was the homeland of the Romans and the metropole of the Roman Empire. Rome was founded as a Kingdom in 753 BC and became a Republic in 509 BC, when the monarchy was overthrown in favor of a government of the Senate and the People. The Roman Republic then unified Italy at the expense of the Etruscans, Celts, and Greeks of the peninsula. Rome led the federation of the Italic peoples of which it had come from to the domination of Western Europe, Northern Africa, and the Near East.
  The Republic saw its fall after the assassination of Dictator Julius Caesar. The Roman Empire later dominated Western Europe and the Mediterranean for many centuries, making immeasurable contributions to humanity. Some of these led to the development of Western philosophy, science and art, that remained central during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. After the fall of Rome in AD 476, Italy remained fragmented in numerous city-states and regional polities until the Italian unification led to the establishment of an Italian nation-state.
context_section_description: Born in Sardinia and southern Corsica, the Nuraghe civilization lasted from the early Bronze Age (18th century BC) to the 2nd century CE, when the islands were already Romanized. They take their name from the characteristic nuragic towers, which evolved from the pre-existing megalithic culture, which built dolmens and menhirs. The nuraghe towers are unanimously considered the best preserved and largest megalithic remains in Europe. Their effective use is still debated: some scholars considered them as fortresses, others as temples.
  A warrior and mariner people, the ancient Sardinians held flourishing trades with the other Mediterranean peoples. This is shown by numerous remains contained in the nuraghe, such as amber coming from the Baltic Sea, small bronzes portraying African apes and animals, Oxhide ingots and weapons from Eastern Mediterranean, Mycenaean ceramics. It has been hypothesized that the ancient Sardinians, or part of them, could be identified with one of the so-called Peoples of the Sea (in particular, the Sherden) who attacked ancient Egypt and other regions of eastern Mediterranean.
  Other original elements of the Sardinian civilization include the temples known as "Sacred Pits", perhaps dedicated to the holy water related to the Moon and astronomical cycles, the Giants' graves, the Megaron temples, several structures for juridical and leisure functions, and some refined statuettes. Some of them have been discovered in Etruscan tombs, suggesting a strong relationship between the two peoples.
caption: Su Nuraxi nuraghe, Sardinia, Italy, 2nd millennium BC.
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