Necropolises were arranged around the city of Tharros in the Roman era. Unfortunately nineteenth century digs searching for treasures devastated the Roman tombs, even if they were poorer than the Punic ones, and little evidence is left.

The small amount of information left shows us incineration tombs where the urn containing the ashes was placed inside a cavity dug into the rock. The urn could be made of glass, terracotta, or a small stone box. Coffer tombs or hooded tombs may also have been present. The funeral items date these burials to the full Imperial Age.

Let’s take a closer look at the small necropolis that was set up in the 1st century A.D. in the moat of the Su Muru Mannu fortifications after it was partly filled in (fig. 1).

Fig. 1 - The necropolis in the moat on Su Muru Mannu (photo by Unicity S.p.A.).

A small mausoleum stands out in this necropolis, comprising a fence of stone blocks and poorly paved with irregular stones, inside of which there is a cupae tomb that was already plundered in ancient times, lying over a small stone box containing the bones of the deceased (figs. 2-3), dated to the final decades of 1st century, A.D.

Fig. 2 - The small mausoleum in the moat (photo C. Tronchetti)

Fig. 3 - The sarcophagus with the remains of the deceased (photo C. Tronchetti)

All the other toms, which are mostly in the northern part of the moat, are cupae, i.e. With a semi-circular covering (figs. 4-6)

Fig. 4 - Diagram of the cupae roof of a tomb; this type is also known as a coffer tomb with semi-circular covering (from ROMANÒ 2009, p. 218)

Fig. 5 - The necropolis in the moat (photo by Unicity S.p.A.)

Fig. 6 - Cupae tomb in the moat in Tharros (photo di Unicity S.p.A.)

These tombs were finished with a smooth white plaster, and sometimes painted to imitate marble slabs that lined the tombs of the higher class’ tombs (fig. 7) In a few cases, there is a small shelf opposite the tomb, in concrete, plastered stone, used for the symbolic meal in the memory of the deceased person (fig. 8).

Fig. 7 - Decoration painted as marble (photo by Unicity S.p.A).

Fig. 8 - Cupae tomb in the moat in Tharros (photo by Unicity S.p.A.)

The cupae tomb, in well-finished cement, covered the tomb that could have been a cappuccina tomb, with dual sloping tiles (fig. 9) or a simple stone box.

Fig. 9 - Cappuccina tomb incorporated into the cupae tomb (photo by Unicity SpA).

Examination of a small number of funeral goods found in these tombs, still not revealed, dated them to the 1st century A.D. and the early decades of the 2nd.

The cupae tombs are widespread in the western Mediterranean and Sardinia contains a large number, equally distributed in the various urban areas.