{"id":8193,"date":"2021-06-23T14:55:17","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T12:55:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/monteprama.it\/?page_id=8193"},"modified":"2023-04-07T09:20:04","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T07:20:04","slug":"discovery-and-excavations","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/monteprama.it\/en\/monte-prama\/discovery-and-excavations\/","title":{"rendered":"Discovery and excavations"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Discovery and excavations<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Mysterious places emerge from the past to tell us their stories.<\/h2>\n

Stories of warriors, archers, boxers.
\nStories of nuraghi and sacred stones.<\/h2>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

The farmers’ ploughs uncovered by chance the treasures buried under the land.<\/strong>
\nThese farmers have revealed to us a glorious past that we are still trying to understand.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”14430″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” el_class=”didascalia”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”14426″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” el_class=”didascalia”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Discovered by chance in March 1974, the archaeological site of Mont\u2019e Prama underwent several excavation campaigns\u00a0between 1975<\/strong> and 1979<\/strong>, 2014, 2015<\/strong>\u20132016\u00a0<\/strong>and, more recently, between 2018<\/strong> and June 2022<\/strong>, the date of the last intervention.
\nThe excavation campaigns carried out since the 1970s in the archaeological site of Mont’e Prama have brought to light an immense and indefinite material<\/strong>: in the excavations new fragments are continually found which must be documented and restored before they can eventually be attributed to distinct sculptures.
\nThe sculptures of Mont\u2019e Prama were worked in limestone<\/strong>, a relatively soft, light-coloured stone, presumably quarried in the area of Santa Caterina di Pittinuri, distant from the site some 16 km as the crow flies. Most of the betyls and the base of a large model of a nuraghe are in sandstone, from the western coast of the Sinis, some 5 km away.
\nEach of the sculptures was worked from a single block of stone and sculpted all round<\/strong>, to be seen from all sides, also from the back, as shown by carved details on the rear.
\nThe restored material and the latest findings awaiting restoration are on public display at the Giovanni Marongiu civic museum in Cabras<\/strong> and the National archaeological museum of Cagliari<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Currently, fieldwork focuses on extending the excavation area to clarify the original layout of the site and the sequence of events over the long period from original set up of the necropolis to the formation of the sculpture complex, right up to its destruction.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row”][vc_column][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” css=”.vc_custom_1678618703695{background-color: #e3aa00 !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

The first excavation campaign<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1676908730363{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]In the 1970s two farmers discovered the first sculptures while ploughing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The first documented findings date from the spring of 1974<\/strong>.\u00a0The Cagliari Architecture Superintendency organise a first brief excavation campaign in December 1975<\/strong>, directed by Alessandro Bedini. In 1979<\/strong>, the first systematic excavation campaign was directed again by Carlo Tronchetti.<\/p>\n

These early archaeological investigations reveal to us\u00a0a necropolis in use for several centuries, showing the signs of several different development periods<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text]