The LASS Project is a diachronic regional survey, and as such, it documents and records archaeological remains of all periods in order to reconstruct the changing landscape over time. Indeed, this area of the Sulcis region is particularly rich archaeologically, and it lies in the shadow of several important archaeological sites – including the Phoenician-Punic site of Pani Loriga, the Late Neolithic necropolis of Montessu, the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age cave sanctuary of Su Benatzu, the Bronze Age megalithic Tomba dei Gianti of Sa Fraigada at Barrancu Mannu, and a Bronze Age sacred well (Pozzo Sacro) at Tattinu. The region is also home to dozens of other prehistoric sites, including Bronze Age megalithic towers (nuraghi) and Neolithic rock-cut tombs (domus de janas). The archaeology of more recent periods is represented by the Byzantine Church of Santa Elia, the important industrial archaeology mining sites at Is Rosas and Sa Marchese, as well as numerous Early Modern railroad and farm buildings.
The presence of so many archaeological sites traversing such a long time-span means that the LASS Project plays an important role in contextualizing the development of these sites within their contemporary cultural and natural landscapes. In doing so, it also highlights the importance of everyday activity patterns and smaller-scale sites in order to offer a more holistic view of the regional developments that took place over time. These changes represent different land use strategies, technological developments, political and economic structures, community organizations, demographic fluctuations, and changing cultural perceptions of landscape. Moreover, by employing a diachronic approach in the study of the landscape of the Sulcis region, the LASS Project comes to see the landscape as a palimpsest in which the remains of earlier communities continue to leave their mark on the landscape of later groups, and wherein some locations hold particular significance such that they are revisited and re-occupied by later groups.
The presence of so many archaeological sites traversing such a long time-span means that the LASS Project plays an important role in contextualizing the development of these sites within their contemporary cultural and natural landscapes. In doing so, it also highlights the importance of everyday activity patterns and smaller-scale sites in order to offer a more holistic view of the regional developments that took place over time. These changes represent different land use strategies, technological developments, political and economic structures, community organizations, demographic fluctuations, and changing cultural perceptions of landscape. Moreover, by employing a diachronic approach in the study of the landscape of the Sulcis region, the LASS Project comes to see the landscape as a palimpsest in which the remains of earlier communities continue to leave their mark on the landscape of later groups, and wherein some locations hold particular significance such that they are revisited and re-occupied by later groups.
Pre- and Proto-historic Sulcis
Dozens of prehistoric and protohistoric sites, including the rock-cut tombs (domus de janas) and megalithic stone towers (nuraghi), are known in the region. In addition to documenting such sites, the LASS Project is identifying smaller features, like rock-cut basins and high density artifact scatters (Areas of Above Average Artifact Density or AAADs), dating to these early periods and representing a wider range of activities and settlement types. The systematic documentation of such locations is importantly broadening our understanding of these early communities and their organization in the region.
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the sulcis in antiquity
The Phoenician-Punic settlement of Pani Loriga, excavated by colleagues of the Pani Loriga Archaeological Mission (CNR), was a major central place in this section of the Sulcis Plain. The LASS Project has identified the appearance of numerous sites that are established in the Late Punic period (following a major depopulation of Pani Loriga) and that continue to be occupied through the Roman period. The documentation of these locations is serving to track major settle reorganizations across the lower valley systems during these important political transitions on the island.
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Early Modern Sulcis
The region is also rich in archaeological remains dating to more recent historical times, and the LASS Project has been dedicated to documenting these later periods as well. In particular, the Project has successfully reconstructed the multifaceted land-use strategies of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. These remains include not only abandoned farm buildings and pastoral corrals, but also industrial features related to mining, quarrying, and forestry management. This research importantly ties the longue durée landscape approach of the LASS Project to contemporary communities in the region.
