Human Ecology, Economic Changes and Gastronomy in Central Sardinia between Neolithic and Iron Age. The Case Study of the Mogoro Territory (4th-1st Millennium BC)

Alfredo Carannante;Salvatore Chilardi;Riccardo Cicilloni

2025-01-01

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Abstract

Sardinia is a paradigmatic example of a large island environment that has changed through time influencing the ecological and economical strategies of human populations. The central-western area of the island hosts a series of morphologies and ecosystems particularly rich in fundamental resources for prehistoric/protohistoric communities: extensive and productive coastal lagoons, a fertile agricultural plain with streams and ponds, forested terraces of the hilly strip, and the important obsidian deposits of Monte Arci. The Mogoro territory is a privileged observation point for understanding the ecological dynamics in prehistoric Sardinia, being located at the centre of these production areas and positioned along the preferential access routes connecting lowlands to highlands. The main core of this paper is the reconstruction of the local economy in various phases ranging from the mid-4th to the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, through the analysis of faunal assemblages recovered from the excavation of prehistoric/protohistoric sites in the Mogoro territory. It revealed radical economical changes through time as a response to ecological evolution. Whereas during the 4th millennium, the Neolithic economy is focused on the exploitation of the Campidano plain resources with its pastures for cattle and coastal lagoons, during the 3rd millennium the Chalcolithic communities appear isolated from those ecosystems and they are instead projected towards the highlands, suggesting a resilient adaptation to new conditions. The Recent Bronze Age Nuragic economy appears wealthy and opened again to coastal ecosystems exploited with greater intensity. Despite the collapse and the un-inhabitability of the nuraghe during the Final Bronze Age, its ruins are used for ritualized banquets by a wealthy community that intensely exploits the best coastal, plain and plateau resources. Between Recent and Final Bronze Age there is a continuity both in terms of subsistence strategies and in terms of food preferences, confirmed by the constancy of the attested cooking techniques, attesting to a strong persistence of traditions.