Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/116

 gS A History of Art in Sardinia and Jud/ea. which they reproduced ad nauseam wherever they wandered. If they came from the Afric continent, and all point that way, the typical mode of architecture of the western islands of the Mediter- ranean was imported from the Libyan coast. Be this as it may, it is certain that when the miragh builders landed in Sardinia, they had already emerged from the lowest grade of savage life, shown in these structures ; which, if wanting in beauty of form and ornamentation, had the uncontested merit of solidity. They may even then have been possessed of bronze weapons ; but if not, the Tyrian traders, who very early frequented Sardinian harbours, must have taught them to what use they might be put as means of self-defence. If here and there nuraghs were built with unprepared stones, the facing on one side at least was, as a rule, with dressed blocks. This implies a bronze implement, for pure copper would have been too soft, and iron is not met with until the Punic and Roman epoch ; for as we have seen, no traces of it have been found in the various repositories of the independent tribes. Now bronze could only have been supplied them by the Phoenicians, who down to the first Punic war had the whole commerce of the Mediterranean, not to say of the world, in their own hands. The need of procuring this precious metal was the first incentive to relations being entered into between vendors on the one hand and purchasers on the other. Such relations were largely to the advantage of the aborigines until the day when Carthage, not content with mere barter, aspired to become a political and con- quering power. To the period preceding her policy of annexation must belong the Sulcis and Sinis towers, as well as those dis- tributed about the broad expanse to the south-east, including the adjacent plateaux. We are inclined to believe that about this time Sardinia was inhabited by two distinct people, differing from and often at war with each other. The older occupiers were those tribes, respecting which we know absolutely nothing, except that they were uncivilized and lived in rocky caverns ; whilst the younger, i.e. later to arrive in the island, for want of a proper name to bestow upon them, we must fain call " nuragh people." These, thanks to the superiority of their arms, and the solidity of their towers, were able to possess themselves of the more fruitful portion of the country ; the early inhabitants gradually falling back towards the centre without being pursued, for they