Santadi, Pani Loriga Village

The site is geographically located on a Paleozoic tuff hill, surrounded to E by the course of the Riu Mannu. The favorable position ensured the control of two ancient routes of penetration that connected Eastern Sulcis with the Cixerri valley and with the Campidano of Cagliari.
The hill of Pani Loriga presents itself as a rich cultural stratification that documents the continuity of settlement from the pre-Nuragic era (necropolis a domus de janas) to the Punic era. The settlement, one of the Phoenician colonies aimed at controlling the territory and exploiting the resources of the rich Sulcitan hinterland, was founded between the second half and the end of the 7th century BC, as evidenced by the ceramics found on the acropolis.
This was located on the W side of the hill and was accessible from S/E through a road connected to the base of the hill. The archaeological remains are not easily interpreted, but around the edge of the hill, a double wall with large blocks that incorporates a previous nuragic structure, the Diana nuraghe, seems to be identifiable around the edge of the hill. The access to the acropolis through the outer wall shows articulated structures: on the E side of the fortification, living rooms have been identified which, increasing the wall thickness, constituted an additional defensive element.
The fortification contained a series of buildings that could be interpreted as a residential district, dating back to the 3rd century BC.
The Phoenician necropolis, of which about 150 tombs were excavated, dating between the first years and the second half of the 6th century BC, was located on a short tuff plateau along the S/W slopes of the hills; it was more widely characterized by grave burials, in which the rite of incineration was mainly practiced. The pits were mostly oblong in shape, and had a depth of about 30 cm; in rarer cases they were subrectangular in shape, deeper and provided with ribs on the long sides.
On the N/O side, the Punic necropolis was located, consisting of underground tombs dug into the tuff bank. A corridor, also dug into the rock, was the access to the burial chamber, in which the remains of the buried dead were contained. There is also evidence of a hypogeum with a space in front of the room, perhaps with a ritual value, and with a central pillar inside. Sometimes the burials were obtained from prehistoric hypogeans, the so-called 'domus de janas'.
Thanks to the equipment that accompanied the bodies of the deceased, it was possible to date the necropolis between the 5th and 4th centuries BC.
A place of worship, which we wanted to identify with a tofet, even if the clues are completely generic, was located at E of the acropolis, on the other side of the hill.

History of excavations
Discovered in 1965 by Ferruccio Barreca, the site is named after the two owners of the land. He was affected by several excavation campaigns by Giovanni Tore and Enrico Atzeni between 1968 and 1974. The excavations brought to light the acropolis and the Phoenician and Punic necropolises, of which numerous tombs have been excavated.

Bibliography
F. Barreca, “Punic Research in Sardinia: Phoenician Expansion in the Mediterranean”, in Punic Research in the Central Mediterranean: Reports from the Colloquium in Rome, 5-7 May 1969, Rome, 1970, pp. 21-37;
G. Tore, “The Phoenician-Punic Settlement of Paniloriga di Santadi (Cagliari)”, in Phoenician Ceramics of Sardinia. Data, issues, comparisons. Proceedings of the First Sulcitan Congress (Sant'Antioco, September 19-21, 1997), pp. 333-346. M. Botto (edited by), “The archaeological complex of Pani Loriga”, Guide and Studies 61, Delfino, 2016.

How to get
There From the SS 130, at the height of Siliqua, turn around the town, cross the town and take the SS 293 that leads to Nuxis. You cross the town and turn south directly to Santadi. At km 62 you take a neighboring road and follow it for 1.5 km until you reach the entrance to the archaeological area.