The Nuragic bronze statuettes (bronzetti in Italian, brunzitos or brunzitus in Sardinian) are typical Nuragic Sardinian bronze sculptures of the final phase of the Bronze Age and the early Iron Age.
During the archaeological excavations in Sardinia, more than 500 bronze statuettes of this type have been discovered, mainly in places of worship like their holy wells, and the so-called megara temples, but also in villages and nuraghes. Several statues were also found in excavations carried out in Etruscan tombs of central Italy from the 9th-8th centuries BCE.
Probably obtained with the lost wax technique, they can measure up to 39 cm. They represent scenes of everyday life of the nuragic people, depicting characters from various social classes, animal figures, warriors, chiefs, divinities, everyday objects and ships.
Archaeologists have not been able yet to date the figures accurately: They were allegedly made between the 9th~6th centuries BCE; however, the recent discoveries at Orroli and at Ballao of fragments of bronze statues dating from the 13th century BCE have called into question their effective date. Gonzalez (2012) dated the earliest types of bronze statuettes to the 12th-11th centuries BCE.
Gallery
- Some Sardinian bronze statuettes dating from the Nuragic period
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Nuragic warrior from Sulcis (Pigorini National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography, Rome)
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Some Nuragic statuettes on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Cagliari (Sardinia)
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Nuragic bronze statuette nicknamed "the mother of the killed" found in Urzulei
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Nuragic statuette found in the Etruscan city of Vulci.
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Nuragic bronze statuette showing an archer with a kilt from Sardara
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A Sardinian archer from Sardara
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A Sardinian archer from the Nuragic Sanctuary of Abini in Teti
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Sardinian four-eyed and four-armed hero from the Nuragic Sanctuary of Abini
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Sardinian chieftain from Serri
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Ship model from Ardara
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Citations
- Campus, Franco; Leonelli, Valentina; Lo Schiavo, Fulvia (22–26 September 2008). La transizione culturale dall'età del bronzo all'età del ferro nella Sardegna nuragica in relazione con l'Italia tirrenica (PDF). Session: Long-distance contacts and Acculturation in central Italy from 1000 to 700 BCE. International Congress of Classical Archaeology: Meetings between Cultures in the Ancient Mediterranean. Bollettino di Archeologia on Line. Vol. speciale. Rome, IT (published 5 August 2010). pp. 62–76. ISSN 2039-0076. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-31. Retrieved 2017-08-31.
- Manunza, Maria Rosaria (2008). "La stratigrafia del van a di Funtana Coberta (Ballo – CA)" (PDF). Journal of Fasti Online. Rome, IT: Associazione Internazionale di Archeologica Classica. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
- Gonzalez, Ralph Araque (September 2012). "Sardinian bronze figurines in their Mediterranean setting". Praehistorische Zeitschrift. 87 (1): 83–109. doi:10.1515/pz-2012-0005. S2CID 164071360. Retrieved 2022-10-21 – via ResearchGate.
Bibliography
- A.A.; V.V., eds. (1967). La civiltà in Sardegna nei secoli. Torino, IT: Edizioni ERI.
- Casula, F.C. (1994). La storia di Sardegna. Sassari, IT.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Foddai, L. (2008). Sculture zoomorfe. Studi sulla bronzistica figurata nuragica. Cargeghe, IT.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Lilliu, G. (1967). La civiltà dei Sardi dal neolitico all'età dei nuraghi. Torino, IT: Edizioni ERI.
- Lilliu, G. (1962). Sculture della Sardegna nuragica. Verona, IT.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)