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The virtual tour of the Archaeological Museum of Cagliari resumes today from the second exhibition floor, where we tell you about the showcase that contains the finds from two towns of Sulcis, Narcao and Santadi.
Kernophoroi are exhibited, small busts used as perfume burners, statuettes and busts of the goddess Demeter, oil lamps and other votive objects, all coming from the sanctuary of Strumpu Bagoi, found in the years 1971-73 near Terreseo, a fraction of the municipality of Narcao.
The small rural place of worship has a well and next to it a small aedicule paved in cocciopesto, to which a small compartment was connected in which a large quantity of ashes with bones and teeth of pigs was found.
In the room there was a small altar under which there was a votive deposit with jars, an oil lamp, some kernophoroi and a small statue, together with a coin of C. Cassius Celer, monetary magistrate in 15 BC. The deposit is thus datable after that date.
The remaining part of the votive offerings was found in the external part of the structures, where six small altars were placed.
The rest of the showcase is dedicated to finds from Santadi.
These are grave goods found during excavations in the 1970s, conducted in the Phoenician necropolis of Pani Loriga. The excavation brought to light a series of cremation tombs, dated to the first half of the 6th century. B.C. The presence of jugs with mushroom-shaped and double sided rim appears constant, often together with a saucer. The aryballos (spherical ointment) of Etruscan production reproducing Corinthian models, confirms the chronology of the necropolis, in which objects of personal adornment are also found, such as the necklace on display. The location of the site, located inland, reveals it to be functional to the control of part of the Sulcis territory, rich in metallic resources.
In addition to Phoenician and Punic materials, from Pani Loriga there are also objects that refer to a later, early medieval presence, with the bronze bell in the showcase, generically datable to the 6th century. A.D.
Other Byzantine artifacts were found by chance during the plowing work that took place in 1972. They were objects of a grave burial covered with slabs of shale, in which a single buried with its modest grave goods was placed: jugs in reddish clay covered with a lighter coating and a low bowl decorated with translucent slats that form motifs with oblique and trellis bands. The Barrua ‘e Basciu tomb dates back to the 6th century. A.D. based on the characteristics of the objects in the grave goods.
