The extensive trade networks of ancient Sardinia have been reconstructed thanks to the chemical analysis of 48 small metal statuettes, mainly bronze, dating back to the 1st millennium BC.
The result is due to an international study published in the journal Plos One and led by the Curt Engelhorn Centre in Mannheim, Germany, and the Danish University of Aarhus , in which Italy also participated with the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Cagliari, Oristano and Southern Sardinia .
The research sheds light not only on local metallurgical practices , but also on the role of Sardinia in the Mediterranean during the transition from the Bronze to the Iron Age.
The researchers coordinated by Helle Vandkilde of the Danish University focused on the famous Nuragic bronzes , iconic symbols of Sardinia that were often offered as votive offerings inside the sanctuaries, which constituted political and religious centers.
Most of the statuettes studied come from three of these important sites: Su Monte, a short distance from Serradile; Abini, located in the Teti area; and Santa Vittoria, in the municipality of Serri. Advanced analysis revealed that the statuettes are made primarily of bronze, with smaller percentages of tin and lead . Some also contain traces of other metals, such as silver and arsenic.
The copper used in the preparation of bronze, however, came from many different sources and not only Sardinian : for example, in addition to the Iglesiente-Sulcis district in south-western Sardinia, with the Sa Duchessa mine as the most likely supplier, trade extended as far as the Alcudia valley and the Linares district, which are located in present-day Spain.
Similar speech for the pond : "The tin isotopic values of all the bronze figurines analyzed," the study states, "rule out local mineralization, since Sardinian tin consistently shows higher values." Therefore, "the tin used for the figurines must have been imported." The most plausible explanation "is that the tin came from the Iberian Peninsula and likely traveled along the same sea routes as copper," which was also used for various purposes, including the creation of the bronze figurines.
In conclusion, the scholars explain, «the metallurgical results confirm the strong connections already evident between Sardinia and the metalliferous south-west of the Iberian Peninsula at the beginning of the first millennium BC».