Carbonia, Phoenician Fortifications of Nuraghe Sirai

The Sirai nuraghe is located on a small relief (82 m above sea level) at the foot of the most famous plateau Monte Sirai (about 1 km to the south). Its strategic position is therefore given by its inclusion at the important junction of the Via Sulcitana represented by the area of Monte Sirai.
The building consists of a main 'tholos' surrounded by a quadrilobed bastion. The latter's towers are oriented according to the cardinal points and the keep is leaning against the north tower of the bastion, while on the E there is a large courtyard.
The nuraghe and the adjoining village are surrounded by a fortified structure probably built in the last quarter of the 7th century BC. The inner curtain wall of the fortification uses the beam of the nuragic antewall, identified for a length of about 60 m. The structure, which is about 6 m thick, is segmented into several blind compartments carved in the space between the two curtains. From an examination of the stone emerging on the surface, it seems possible to interpret the masonry as an embankment, in which the small rooms were functional to the creation of the filling of earth and stones.
In a phase before the last quarter of the 6th century BC, a sector was built on the embankment, with areas of longitudinal development, which could also have had a housing function. In the inner part of the antewall, curvilinear wall structures interpreted as huts have been identified and whose period of use has yet to be clarified.
The structure was presumably abandoned immediately after the conquest of Sardinia by Carthage, in the last quarter of the 6th century BC.
The settlement is of great historical importance because it is a rare example of Phoenician fortification leaning against a nuragic complex. This circumstance is even more extraordinary when compared with the chronology of the other Phoenician and Punic fortifications of Sardinia known to us, all of which date back to the Carthaginian age.
The continuation of the investigations could be of great help to understand more deeply the relationships between the Nuragic community that resided in the village and the Phoenicians who presumably arrived there around the middle of the 8th century BC.

History of the excavations
The monument has not been affected by excavation work so far. Stratigraphic investigations on Phoenician fortifications, started in 1999, are still in progress by Carla Perra.

Bibliography
V. Santoni, “Phoenician ceramics from the Sirai Nuraghe of Carbonia”, in Rivista di Studi Feniici, 14, 1986, pp. 181-184;
L. Usai, “Nuraghe Sirai (Carbonia - Ca)”, in the Villa Sulci Museum: first documents, Cagliari, STEF, 1988, pp. 41-43; P. Bartoloni, Monte Sirai. Sassari, C. Delfino, 2004 (Archaeological Sardinia. Guides and itineraries; 10);
C. Perra, “Nuraghe Sirai di Carbonia (Ca), Investigations on Phoenician Employment”, in Proceedings of the V International Congress of Phoenician and Punic Studies (Marsala-Palermo, October 2, 2000), Palermo, 2005, pp. 1081-1091.

How to get
From Cagliari: from the SS 130, at km 44, turn right up to Carbonia (SP2). Once in Villamassargia, turn north at km 57 for the SS126 state road (direction Sant'Antioco); at about 1800 m, turn right and follow the signs.