Paesaggi minerari della Sardegna medievale. Status quaestionis per la costruzione di nuovi percorsi di ricerca archeologica

Guy Geltner

;Fabio Pinna

;Nicolas Minvielle Larousse

;Mattia Sanna Montanelli

2025-01-01

---

Abstract

This contribution provides an update on archaeological studies concerning the medieval mining landscapes of Sardinia, with particular attention to the island’s southwest, an area rich with lead and silver ores whose extraction assumed a strategic role in the Mediterranean context between the twelfth and fifteenth century. A collaboration between Monash University (Melbourne, Australia), the French School of Rome and the University of Cagliari strives to redefine approaches to understanding the dynamics of extraction and settlement. The material heritage of the Iglesiente in the preindustrial era is currently difficult to analyse, due to the impact of later industrial activities, which have often altered archaeological stratigraphies and dispersed material remains. However, an integrated analysis of documentary, cartographic and archaeological sources allows for a detailed reconstruction of medieval mining activities and its links with Mediterranean economic networks. The project proposes to develop new research methodologies, combining archaeology (including public archaeology), history and environmental science, in order to improve our understanding of the transformation of the mining landscape and the legacy of this prolonged activity, integrating the Sardinian case study into a broader comparative perspective, capable of dialoguing with analogous analytical models at an international scale.