Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/63

 N URACILS. 45 Heracles, as their founder. Diodorus speaks in vaguer terms of the Sardinian structures, attributing them to Daedaelos, the Greek prototype of sculpture and architecture. 1 Dismissing the idea which would connect the Sardinians with the Hellenes of Argos, Attica, and Boeotia, who during a certain lapse of time raised tombs resembling niiraghs in disposition, it is none the less true that these elementary towers represent a very peculiar type of architecture adopted by the early Greeks, but without adhering to the style, ere long replaced by more artistic conceptions. With g - -' Fig. 33. — Balearic Jalayot. Plan, section, elevation. La Marmora. Atlas, Plate XL. the Sardinians, on the other hand, the type was strictly preserved, and carried to the utmost perfection it was susceptible to attain in the three storied-tower. Nevertheless, Sardinia is not the undisputed home of nuraghs, for they are found likewise in the western districts of the Mediterranean. We know of no towers in Malta or Sicily, but " sesi," i.e. two-storied towers, built with uncemented stones, are met with in Pantellaria ; whilst the " tala- yots," in the Balearic islands, are so akin to nuraghs as to be almost identical. 2 Talayots are generally discovered in a ruinous state, but enough is preserved to show that they were possessed of the same plan, truncated cones, means of defence, doorways, central apartments with adjoining cells, and, finally, the same domes, narrowing towards the top (Figs. 30 and n). The only 1 Diodorus appears to have drawn from the same sources as the pseudo-Aristotle, but, as is customary with him, he " touched up " his author (IV. xxx. 1). 2 The word " talayot" is a diminutive of " atalaya," " watch-tower." 3 La Marmora, Voyage en Sardaigne, Pt. II. p. 544.