1. ISTITUTO COMPRENSIVO STATALE SANT’ANTIOCO - CALASETTA Via Salvo D’Acquisto N° 1 – 09017 Sant’Antioco (C.I.) Tel. 0781-83562 Fax 0781-802240 e mail [email_address] U-KNIGHT-EUROPE
2. The island of Sant'Antioco is situated in the south-western part of Sardinia, connected to the motherland by a bridge. It is the largest among the smaller Sardinian islands. Italy SARDINIA SANT’ANTIOCO
3. The island of Sant’Antioco COUNTRY REGION ITALY SARDINIA PROVINCE CARBONIA-IGLESIAS TOWN SANT’ANTIOCO
4. The Nuragic Civilization in Sant’Antioco Typical Nuraghe in Sardinia The Tombs of the Giants The island was inhabited at least 5000 years B.C. The history of the town is particularly rich in archaelogical sites: nuraghe, domus de janas, menhirs. The nuraghe are megalithic dwellings dating from the second millenium B.C. The nuraghes of the island sit on the top of the hills or on reefs. Domus de janas are hypogees, often subdivided into different rooms, used as graves up to the late Medieval Age. Menhirs are apogeal monuments.
5. Some historical facts The city of Sant'Antioco was founded in the 8th century BC by the Phoenicians,with the name of Solki. Later (6th century BC) it became a Carthaginian colony, to which the necropolis belongs. The Punic domination ended in the 2nd century BC. Photo: Carla Senis
7. The Tophet The Tophet is a form of necropolis and sanctuary typical of the Phoenician-Punic civilization in the Western Mediterranean sea. It is an open air sacred area where the ashes of dead born babies or children were buried. In fact, dead children were burst along with offers of small animals, then put inside urns covered with plates and put down in the ground. In the tophet of Sant’Antioco the copies of many urns have been left in the place of their original finding.
8. Sant’Antioco … The Roman period The Roman Bridge, Photo Carla Senis The Acopolis The Lion The end of the II nd century B. C. marks the end of the Punic domination and the Roman conquest of Sardinia. Several remains witness that period: the Roman Bridge , the ruins of a Temple , built between the II nd and the I st century B. C. upon a part of the Punic necropolis and the Acropolis .