Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/88

 A History o- Art in Sardinia and Jidia. and the position they occupied in their hiding-places, the whole series was classified into groups, and these enable us to form some idea of the inner life and degree of civilization to which these aborigines had attained. 1 About ten kilometres north of Teti, indicated in our map (Fig. 2), are the ruins of "Abini,"a name rendered famous by the archaeological monuments that were dug up here on various occasions. It is reached by a narrow gorge, exhibiting traces of fortifications, called " sa bidda de sa domo," " the city of the house ; " followed by a kind of natural tunnel through the rock which opens out upon a plateau, surrounded by a lofty range of sombre-looking mountains. This part is traversed by the Toloro, a channel to the right of the Tarsos. Somewhere about here stood the village of Abini, now abandoned. Close to it are ruins known as " sa bidda de sa badde," "the city of the watch" (Fig. 29), together with the remains of what are supposed to have been an important niiragh, where a whole treasure of antiquities were uncovered. This pile consists of a central tower, entirely destroyed, flanked by four smaller, a low wall intervening between them and the main edifice (Fig. 29, 1). Other ruins, perhaps small nuraghs or houses, are stated to be distributed around the more massive structure (Fig. 29, 2) ; accidentally discovered under the following circumstances. In 1865 some Teti bricklayers, whilst clearing away the luxuriant overgrowth of oak and olive trees preparatory to laying the foundations of a house, came upon a stone trough at the depth of a metre from the surface, containing bronze figures and weapons, now in the Cagliari museum. In 1878 the rustics, prompted, doubtless, by the hope of gain, proceeded to a second excavation, directed this time more sys- tematically and on a larger scale ; when they not only cleared away the enormous growth of ten years, but set about felling trees of large girth, together with the roots binding the ground, and 1 We can only express our keen regret that M. Pais's publication, from which our information respecting these documents is chiefly taken, and which, far better than the Notizie delli Scavi, would have kept scholars up to date respecting the explorations that are taking place, including reference to the most notable monu- ments in the public and private collections of the island, should have been discon- tinued for want of a little encouragement from learned European Societies. Pais, Bolletlino Arch. Sardo, 1884, paper entitled, // ripostiglio di bronzi di Abini presso Tc/i, pp. 67-179.