In the site of Monte Prama (Oristano) there are the remains of an ancient city of 16 hectares. The discovery led to the renaming of the archaeological area as the "Sardinian Pompeii".
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himIt is definitely not just a necropolis: the site of Monte Prama (Oristano) houses the remains of a huge ancient city of 16 hectares. The incredible discovery is the result of years of work and has already led to the renaming of the archaeological area as the "Sardinian Pompeii", with streets, houses, temples and 120 tombs.
16 hectares against Pompeii's 44, true, but the Sardinian version is also much older. The work was conducted under the direction of the geophysicist Gaetano Ranieri, supported by the archaeologists of the University of Sassari.
According to the version currently confirmed by the Superintendency, Monte Prama is a site discovered in 1974 of 750 square meters (less than a tenth of a hectare) in which dozens of giants and models of nuraghe (typical Sardinian construction), well tombs have been found and finds of all kinds. But Ranieri had never been convinced that everything was "so simple" and insisted on more in-depth investigations.
Scientists plumbed the ground with a georadar and they found anomalies on a much wider territory, that is 16 hectares. Which can be called a city much more than a “simple” necropolis.
"Our instruments are able to read the subsoil and detect anomalies of all kinds - Ranieri explained in the course of a public report organized by the Foundation of Sardinia and reported by 'La Nuova Sardegna' - It is not uncommon until you come across what we have defined as "organized" anomalies. In my tables you see straight lines that look like roads, delimited areas that can be read as rooms in buildings, even large ones. And I managed to count 140 meters of tombs yet to be excavated ".
The geophysicist therefore speaks precisely of city, not of a necropolis, or of an ancient cemetery. Only models but no real finds? This is not exactly the case because, despite having only shown reconstructions, these are not the result of theories based on indirect investigations, but very direct ones, aimed at the very terrain that refers irrefutable signs of its internal structure. Well-established techniques, unfortunately also used to find oil wells.
The site, on the other hand, has been the subject of investigations for decades and Ranieri himself is not new to this news: already in 2014 he had "found" a stone giant under a meter of earth, promptly unearthed after the reopening of the excavations. . No doubt, therefore, that it is real finds.
Based on the calculations of the geophysicist, to excavate such a large area (16 hectares are 160.000 square meters), with the times of the archaeologists of the first discoveries in Monte Prama (the statues of giants), it would be necessary about 4000 years. Disturbing but not hyperbolic at all.
However, we hope that this city does not remain buried for too long and that it will soon become a fascinating (and well-kept) site of attraction for experts and simple enthusiasts.
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Roberta de carolis
Photo: The New Sardinia
