Alghero, Palmavera Nuragic Complex

The Palmavera complex is located at the foot of the homonymous mountain relief, along a natural road that connects the gulfs of Alghero and Porto Conte. It is built with blocks of limestone and sandstone and consists of a central body with two towers, an antewall and a village of huts. It was built in various phases.
The oldest structures, dating back to the 15th and 10th centuries BC, are the main tower and some huts. The tower, with E-N/E entrance, has an external diameter of m 10, remaining for m 8 in height. The inner chamber completely preserves the “tholos” vault and has two trapezoidal side niches; in the back wall, raised about m 3 above the floor, the ogival opening of the staircase that led to the upper floor and to the terrace.
The first half of the 9th century BC was the most important and significant phase of life in the entire complex. The tower was rewrapped and included in an additional body of irregular elliptical shape (21.50 x 15 m), expanded in E and S/E directions, which included a second tower.
The main entrance to the new body, which opens to S-S/E, is surmounted by a trachyte lintel, the jambs keep the chain for the bar and the hole for the closing beam. From the entrance, a corridor with a niche in the left wall leads into a small reniform courtyard; here the entrances of the two towers overlook and the corridor connected to the secondary entrance of E-S/E opens. The secondary tower, now soaring, with an entrance to N/O, was equipped with loopholes.
In the walls of the courtyard, there is a raised quadrangular niche and, raised by 2.50 m above the decking, the two openings of the stairwells that led to the upper floor of the secondary tower and to the terrace.
The corridor connected to the secondary entrance has two pairs of facing niches and has a tabular cover; it opens the staircase door that led to a room superimposed on the same corridor, equipped with a trap-drawer in the floor. The terrace that overlooked the entire building was equipped with a railing.
At the same time, there were some huts; among these, the “meeting hut”, the largest in the complex (diameter 12 m), which had a special political-religious role in the village forum. Among his cult furnishings, a model of nuraghe and an exceptional cylindrical sandstone seat and throne.
In the second half of the 9th-8th century BC, the added body underwent a partial renovation; an antewall and a village of huts were also erected. The pentagonal antewall, divided internally into sectors, consists of four hut towers joined by curtains; two hut towers reuse structures from the previous era: such as the “meeting hut”, located in S/O. The antewall has two entrances, in O-S/O and in S/E. At the entrance of S/E, the ring of a silos that was inside a hut demolished at the time of the construction of the wall is visible.
The village, without a precise design, originally had to have about 200 homes. The huts highlighted, about fifty, are arranged in N, N/O, E and S/E of the antewall; they are mainly circular in plan with entrances oriented in the S/E quadrant. There is also an “isolate” of quadrangular rooms, perhaps more recent.
A violent fire led to the abandonment of the complex, probably at the end of the 8th century BC. The sporadic attendance of the site during the III-II century BC is attested.

History of the excavations
It was excavated several times, starting in 1904, when Antonio Taramelli carried out the first interventions. Subsequent campaigns were conducted by Ercole Contu and Alberto Moravetti.

Bibliography
A.Taramelli, “The Palmavera Nuraghe of Alghero”, in Ancient Monuments of the Lyncei, XIX, 1904;
G. Lilliu, The Nuraghi Prehistoric Towers of Sardinia, Cagliari, La Zattera, 1962, p. 86-89;
E. Contu, “Considerations on an excavation essay”, in Journal of Prehistoric Sciences, XVII, 1962, p. 297; A. Moravetti, “New models of nuragic towers”, in Bullettino d'Arte, VII, 1980, pp. 65-80, pp. 84;
A. Moravetti, The Nuragic Complex of Palmavera, series “Sardinia
archeological. Guides and itineraries”, Sassari, Carlo Delfino, 1992.

Tag

Structure category: archaeological area or park

Content type: Archaeological complex
Archaeology

Usability: Open

Province: Sassari

Common: Alghero

Macro Territorial Area: Northern Sardinia

POSTAL CODE: 07041

Address: SS 127 bis, km 45,450 - località Mastru Antoni

Telephone: +39 329 4385947 +39 079 2008072 +39 349 0871963

E-mail: silt.coop@tiscali.it

Website: nuraghepalmavera.it

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October 01 - October 31

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Information on tickets and access: Admission to the site is free for minors up to 14 years old, disabled people, students and archaeology teachers. Family ticket: full price for parents and free admission for up to three children, for each additional child over the third it is necessary to purchase a ticket at a reduced rate. The site is closed on Christmas Day.

Access mode: For a fee

Tickets :

Integer : 5 €, grownups, .

Reduced : 4 €, children from 15 to 17 years old, school groups, groups over 20 people, .

Cumulative integer : 8 €, grownups, for a visit to the Anghelu Ruju Necropolis and the Nuraghe Palmavera .

Reduced cumulative : 6 €, children from 15 to 17 years old, school groups, groups over 20 people, for a visit to the Anghelu Ruju Necropolis and the Nuraghe Palmavera .

Services information: Guided tours can be carried out at an extra cost of euro 3.00 per person upon reservation by telephone, guided tours are also available in the following languages: English, French, Spanish, German. Audio-guide: euro 3.00 (the audio guide is loudspeaker and multilingual).

Other services: The reception area has a small bar.

Update

19/4/2024 - 13:55

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