About Sardinia
Sardinia Santu Lussurgiu Map
The second largest island in the Mediterranean, Sardinia has an area of about 24,000 square km., the size of the state of Vermont. The earliest traces of human occupation now date to the Upper Paleolithic, ca. 
20,000 BP, providing at the same time the earliest evidence of sea travel in the Mediterranean. Due perhaps to limited indigenous fauna and flora, Sardinia was not densely occupied, however, until the Neolithic period (ca. 5800-3200 BC). During the Neolithic, domesticated sheep, goat, cattle and pig, as well as wheat and barley, were introduced to Sardinia, and year-round, permanent settlements appear throughout the island. By the later neolithic, elaborate rock-cut domus-de-janas tombs are evidence of complex religious and ritual practices. From the beginning of the Neolithic, Sardinia was part of a regional interaction system, as indicated by the widespread distribution of the Cardial impressed ceramic style throughout the western Mediterranean, and the distribution of Monte Arci (Sardinia) obsidian to Corsica, northern Italy, and southern France. Extra-insular contacts continued during the Copper and Early Bronze Ages (ca. 3200-1800 BC), with the most notable example being the Beaker style ceramics and burials which are known throughout much of Europe.
Beginning about 1600 BC, Sardinia is characterized by the construction of stone towers called nuraghi, which probably served as territorial markers and as defensive structures. Nuraghi are the largest stone structures in the Mediterranean after the Egyptian pyramids, and their corbel-vaulted ceilings are the earliest known. Approximately 7000 nuraghi have been identified, although only a few dozen are well preserved - some up to 3 stories in height. The Nuragic people were farmers and shepherds and probably warriors, they buried their dead in communal tombe di giganti, and they practiced sophisticated metallurgical and other craft techniques. By the Late Bronze Age, there is extensive evidence for contact with the Aegean (oxhide ingots and Mycenaean ceramics in Sardinia; Nuragic ceramics in Crete), and it is possible that the Sherden tribe of the Sea Peoples mentioned in Egyptian documents is related to Sardinia.
The Phoenicians established colonies in Sardinia in the early 8th century BC, while their Carthaginian successors managed to gain control of the western part of the island by 509 BC. The Romans in turn gained control of the entire island in 238 BC, and Sardinia became both an important source of grain during the Empire, and a place of exile for early Christians and political troublemakers. For anyone who wanted to dominate the trade routes of the Western Mediterranean Sea, control of Sardinia represented the ability to control the seas as well as the rich agricultural and mining resources of the Island. Despite so many waves of colonists and conquerors the indigenous ways on the island persisted and we find them even in today's festivals.
After the Fall of Roman Empire, Sardinia became part of the short-lived kingdom of the Vandals in North Africa, until reconquered by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I. Under the Byzantines, the imperial representative was a Judge who governed from the southern city of Caralis (now Cagliari).
Beginning in the eighth century, Arabs and Berbers began raiding Sardinia. Especially after the conquering of Sicily in 832, the Byzantines were unable to effectively defend their most distant province, and the provincial Judge assumed independent authority. To provide for local defense, he divided the island into four Giudicati (Gallura, Logudoro, Arborea, and Caralis) that by 900 had become four independent constitutional monarchies, also if at various times the individual Giudicati fell under the influence/control of the Genoa or Pisa city states.
In 1323, the Kingdom of Aragon began a campaign to conquer Sardinia; the Giudicato of Arborea successfully resisted this and for a time came to control nearly the entire island under its last great ruler Eleanor of Arborea: her son and heir was eventually defeated by the Aragonese in the 1409. The native population of the city of Alghero (S'Alighera in Sardinian, L'Alguer in Catalan) was expelled and the city repopulated by the Catalan invaders, whose descendants still speak Catalan to this day.
In more recent history, Sardinian was “given” to the Kingdom of Piedmont in the 1718, becoming with Piedmont the nucleus from which, in the course of the 1800's, the nation of Italy was developed. On a small island on Sardinian's North coast, one of the great leaders for uniting Italy, Giuseppe Garibaldi ended his days. Rich in cultural traditions, the Sardinian writer Grazia Deledda was the second woman Nobel Prize winner for Literature in 1926. Currently Sardinia may be most famous for its Costa Smeralda (Emerald Coast), a playground for the rich and famous.
In fact, Sardinia is a lot more. A place where traditions have not been forgotten but are alive, as seen in the numerous festivities found on the island: from Carnival, to religious rites, to the unique horse races found in small villages to larger cities. Sardinia is a place where the past joins to the future. One of Europe's main Internet providers, Tiscali, started there and carries the name of an ancient nuraghic village located deep inside a hidden mountain valley.
Most Sardinians are bilingual speaking both Italian and Sardinian. The Sardinian language is a Romance language with obscure roots in Phoenician, Etruscan and Near Eastern languages, and additional influences from Latin, Arabic, Spanish and Italian. Most scholars believe it is related with the contemporary Basque language found in Spain.
(Thanks to archeologist and Advisory Council member Dr. Robert Tykot for the text on the prehistory of Sardinia.)