Nuragic Bronze Statuettes 0 Commentaires
The bronze statuettes (brunzìttu nuragicu in Sardinian) created from IX to VI century A.C. and found in Nuraghe, in the common dwellings, in the Giants' Tombs and in the Holy Wells of Sardinia, are for us a precious legacy allowing us understand what they looked like and the everyday life of the Paleo-Sardinians. In fact, going from 39 to 2,5 cm in high, they portray people of various social classes, patriarchs or village leaders, warriors, gods, animals, weapons, vases, and wagons. A particular note is due to the nuragic nacelles, makings of artistic refinement with heads of deer, rams, antelopes or oxen, probably representing a ferry-god carrying the deceased, and with divisions with quadrupeds or doves.
They were made of bronze, with an 80% of copper, 10% of tin and 10% of various minerals, with the technique of "lost-wax casting", first creating a wax scale model, to be molted in a mass of clay that receives the negative impression, then casting the molten metal alloy into the clay mould and finally getting the bronze figure. This amazing assortment of bronze statuettes and figures of warriors, represented in a primitive but very effective way, with a dagger or sword, bow and arrows, with a helmet with two horns and a circular shield, have a lot of similarities with the corsairs and mercenaries reproduced in Egyptian monuments with the name of “Shardana". The numerous nuragic nacelles, likewise in bronze, testify of population appertaining to the people of the sea alliance, most likely of Sardo nuragic origin. These works enable us to obtain a clear assessment of a technologically advanced and structured political society, a society with skilled craftsmen and shops.
Pierluigi Montalbano, author of 7 archaeology books, who has long studied Nuragic bronzes, says:
"I believe it legitimate to say that these workshops were availing themselves of the presence and the knowledge of foreign craftsmen, this proving the degree of how widely the Sardinian society of the time was structured".
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Written by Daniela Toti
photo credits: Wikipedia
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