History of Prenuragic statuary Giants of Mont'e Prama

sardinia, ozieri culture, 3300 — 2700 bc. mother goddess in volumetric , geometric style.




sardinia, abealzu-filigosa culture, 2700-2000 bc. scheme of capovolto: stylized man depicted upside down, represented in transition between earthly life , afterlife.[1] trident 1 of 5 simple scheme representing man upside down orthogonal arms behind or arched @ end of limbs , junction shoulders, in statue menhir @ laconi.

the first attestations of sculpture in sardinia more ancient statues of mont e prama. remote example so-called venus of macomer, in non finito technique, dated 3750-3300 bc archaeologist giovanni lilliu, whereas archaeologist enrico atzeni statuette should date neolithic (6000-4000 bc). more recent studies have stressed similarities venus figurines, noticed giovanni lilliu, , hypothesized retro-dating upper palaeolithic or mesolithic age.

statuettes later 1 – still pertaining mother goddess iconography – many volumetric figurines produced ozieri culture, among idol of perfugas, representing goddess suckling child. same symbolism later used nuragic civilization so-called nuragic pietà .

after three-dimensional figurines of goddess – still belonging neolithic age – idols in flat geometric style, represent goddess in chthonic aspect, in examples of type of idol have been found inside graves.

investigations carried out after fortuitous discovery of prehistoric altar @ monte d accoddi (sassari), have revealed that – alongside production of geometric figurines – great statuary present @ time in sardinia, given @ temple of accoddi several stelae , menhirs recovered. beside ramp leading top of main building, excavations revealed presence of great menhir, several others positioned around it. sculpted face, engraved spiraliform patterns , belonging statue-stele, has been assigned earliest phase of site – called red-temple . large granite stele female figure in relief, has been attributed second phase – called great-temple .

still in time-frame of prenuragic age, in case during eneolithic period, there remarkable production of laconi-type statue-menhirs or statue-stelae, assigned abealzu-filigosa culture , characterized uniform tripartite scheme encompassing, top bottom: stylized t-shaped human face; depiction of enigmatic capovolto (the capsized) in kind of trident capovolto; , double-headed dagger in relief.

after spreading of bonnanaro culture in island, tradition of statue-stelae seems die out, while continues until 1200 bc nuragic-related torrean civilization facies of corsica, featuring warriors represented in filitosa sculptures.

upper left, filitosa (corsica): nuragic torrean civilization, stelae human head in relief. — upper right, viddalba (sardinia): nuragic civilization, warrior crested helmet. — lower left, filitosa: nuragic torrean civilization, stelae human head , sword in relief. — lower right, baunei (sardinia): nuragic civilization, baetylus human head in relief.