Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/61

 Nuraghs. 43 stupendous towers which, like the Bologna and St. Gemiano, cause the traveller passing through those parts to wonder at the purpose of their erection. 1 The same was observable in Greece, where only thirty years ago no family of importance but had a " pyrgos." It was generally a lofty, massive pile, occupying the centre of the village, and always kept in good repair ; for at the approach of Turkish pirates, or during an affray between the leading families, in which the whole population took part, it became a fortress for the weak side, which hastened to the pyrgos, whence they harassed their opponents with the impunity afforded by thick high walls. Nor were the besieged better off in the Greek tower than their Sardinian fellow sufferers, for here also they might be kept prisoners for weeks, never attempting a sortie except to fetch water at the common well. 2 The present writer visited the Vitylo tower, and heard from the old men of the place that, before King Otho, they had taken refuge in it many a time. Nuraghs, there- fore, were the Sardinian pyrgos of the family or tribe, according to their greater or smaller size. They formed the village centre, around and within which clustered the population, whose light tenements and farm houses, with huge yards for cattle and sheep, were spread over a vast area, and encompassed by rude outer walls. 3 Here, too, were to be found workshops for manufacturing arms, implements, and utensils in bronze, and in all probability a small stock-in-trade. 4 Finally, under the protecting shadow "of nuraghs the dead found their last resting-place (Fig. 32). 5 1 " The higher the tower the greater the family," is an Italian saying. — Translator. 2 Greek pyrgos are due to Italian influence, and are owned to the present day, as a rule, by those families who did not retire to Venice after the fall of that Republic. — Translator. 3 In these enclosures are huge, uncut stone blocks strewn about the ground, called by the peasantry " lacco-lacchi " (troughs), owing to a groove or cavity on the upper surface, varying from two to three, rarely more than 12 or 15 centimetres deep. But these grooves are much too narrow and shallow to have served for such a pur- pose. The sides toward the brim have traces of sunken lines, indicating that they were intended to receive a lid. These grooved blocks are found in great number in the main court of the Losa Niiragh. Their object has not been explained although La Marmora drew attention to their peculiarities more than forty years ago (La Marmora, Voyage en Sardaigne, torn. ii. pp. 71, 72). 4 M. Pais has collected a considerable number of bronze specimens, disinterred in or about nuraghs (La Sardegna, p. 36, note 3) ; whilst M. Gouin, from whom we quote, states : " I have often met around Laconi, Arcidano, and the broad level small bits of copper scoriae and bronze fragments of arms, for the most part at the foot of nuraghs'" (Notice sur les Mines de la Sardaigne, p. 50. Cagliari, 1867). 6 Albeit faulty in perspective, this view, which we reproduce, conveys a clear idea