The Ottana carnival has its roots in the archaic Sardinian world and its agro-pastoral values, and perpetuates an uninterrupted tradition. It is one of the most awaited anniversaries by the population that actively participates with a deep connection to their roots.
The masks describe, with spontaneous interpretations based on a sort of canvas, characters, roles and situations of peasant and pastoral life: plowing, planting, harvesting, care, taming, illness, and the death of animals. The common thread consists of the masks that represent the animals: Merdùles, Boes, Porcos, Molentes, Crapolos.
Sos Merdùles are the farmers, dressed in white or black leathers or with old local traditional clothes, whose faces are covered by wooden masks, with deformed features to depict the fatigue of working in the fields. They slowly curve around, carrying on their shoulders a leather backpack containing bread and companion (as a pocket). They hold with one hand the reins (sas socas) with which the Boes are tied, with the other hand they lean on a cane, also used to keep the Boes at bay. They talk and complain about their fate and often urge bystanders to keep away from danger: get away because the oxen are passing by and it can be dangerous (appartadeboche po su voe). Sometimes the Merdùle is a man disguised as a woman and represents the difficulty of a widow in dealing with field work, other times he may show up with the reins on his shoulder (sas soccas armugoddu) ready to take the Boes who pass by him. They proceed with a claudicating, tired and ungraceful pace.
Sos Boes (the oxen), held at the reins by Merdùle. They wear sheepskins or old clothes from the local tradition and carry a leather belt on their shoulders from which the cowbells (sonazas) hang. The face covered by a carved wooden mask (sas caratzas) with bovine features and horns. Sometimes semolina pancakes (sas gatzas) are inserted into the horns, two leaves that decorate the cheekbones and a star that decorates the forehead (the star represents the distinctive mark of an old local craftsman who has now disappeared). They jump at a rhythmic rhythm from the sound of cowbells, sometimes they stop to stage a rebellion, jumping on the floor or getting agitated and creating havoc among the people. Sos Porcos and Sos Molentes, pig and donkey masks present in smaller numbers. The pig, dressed in hides or something else, its face covered by a wooden mask, is equipped with only one cowbell, as in the reality of field life; whoever drives it always carries a rush mat (known as panastra) on which the piglets lie down to suck the milk from the sow. Su Cherbu (the deer) and Su Crappolu (the roe deer) are also masks present in the carnival, but rarer. Sa Filonzana is a man disguised as an old woman bent by age, dressed in black and with his face hidden by a wooden mask or colored with soot that contrasts with the white of a denture, made from a potato. She has the spindle, the shell and the wool in her hands, it spins and predicts a more or less prosperous or unfortunate future, depending on the quality of the wine offered to her. Today he also has scissors, like the Roman grim reaper that cut the thread of his life. Sas Mascara Serias are impersonated by men and women, jumping and dancing, dressed eccentrically, with old clothes, sheets or rugs, they represent the goliardic spirit that overturns the meaning of existence.
The carnival goes wild for three days in the streets of the town, from the fiftieth Sunday to the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. It begins on the evening of January 16, the feast of Saint Anthony the Abbot, when, after the religious service that ends with the blessing of the bonfire in the square (on Ogulone), the masks make their first outing and gather around the fire.
On this occasion, the priest presents an embossed copper plate with decorative motifs and an inscription in Alemannic characters (s'Afafuente). The plate is also used during the rites of Holy Week, for washing the feet and for storing the nails that are removed from the Christ on Good Friday during the ceremony of the deposition from the Cross. The plate on this occasion becomes a musical instrument that, struck vertically with a big key, marks the rhythm of the typical dance of Ottana, the ancient Ballu de s'Afafuente. Other musical instruments are a cork cylinder (s'òrriu) with the upper part covered with a piece of animal skin from which hangs a strap that, soaked in pitch and scrolled inside with the hand, produces a rough and prolonged sound that scares animals and disarchs knights or on pipiolu, a hoop made with marsh cane.

The masks
Sos Merdùles: the farmers dressed in mastruches (white or black skins) or with old local traditional clothes, their faces covered by wooden masks with deformed features. They carry a leather backpack (sa taschedda) on their shoulders, they hold with one hand the reins (sas socas) to which the Boes are tied. The other hand rests on a stick also used to keep the Boes at bay.
Sos Boes: they wear sheepskins or old clothes of the local tradition and carry a leather belt on their shoulders from which the cowbells (sonazas) hang, their faces covered by wooden masks with a bovine appearance and horns. They are held by the reins by the Merdùle.
He knows Filonzana: a man disguised as a scary old woman dressed in black and with his face hidden by a wooden mask, or colored with soot that contrasts with the white of a denture made from a potato. She has the spindle, the shell and the wool in her hands, it spins and predicts a prosperous or unfortunate future, depending on the quality of the wine offered to her. Today he also has scissors, alluding to the Roman grim reaper that cut the thread of his life.
Sas Mascara Series: men and women of all ages and conditions bounce around eccentrically dressed, with old clothes, sheets, bedspreads and even table rugs, they represent the goliardic spirit that overturns the meaning of existence.

History
The Ottana carnival has its roots in peasant and pastoral culture, representing its fundamental moments. The celebrations have kept their original characters following the isolation in which the country has lived for a long time. According to anthropologists, the representation of peasant life is intertwined with ancient ceremonies, in particular the rites in honor of Dionysus who is reborn every year in spring, awakening the earth and vegetation, a motif common to other rites with a magical background of the ancient agrarian civilizations of the Mediterranean. The Ottoman carnival also recalls the Neolithic Mediterranean (and Sardinian) cult of “the cattle”, in which the bull was a symbol of strength and vitality. This rite would also have an apotropaic function, against evil spirits to promote the fertility of herds. Man, subjugating and adoring the bull, tends to get closer to the condition of the animal and the carnival; grotesquely staging the transformation that has taken place, he exorcises the risk that this will become a reality in everyday life.