The dwelling area of Monte Sirai shows a well-thought out choice of landscape and intense use of the inhabitable surface area of the plain.

Fig. 1 - Monte Sirai (photo Unicity S.p.A.).

The settlement enjoyed its maximum period of expansion between the 4th century B.C., between the late Punic Age and the Roman-Republic Age: however, the oldest evidence comes from the Phoenician era, in the middle of the 8th century B.C. It is arranged into blocks (called insulae in the history of studies) placed around small squares and streets, buildings mostly used for dwelling, but also by craftsmen and for religious purposes, such as the ‘temple of Astarte’.

Fig. 2 - Monte Sirai, map (drawn up by GUIRGUIS 2013, fig. 11)

The oldest phases of the settlement - preceded by Neolithic and Nuragic evidence - can be dated around the 8th century B.C. In the 7th and 6th centuries B.C., intense building took place on the higher ground: this period included the building of the ancient cremation necropolis.
Another phase, that begins with the conquering of Sardinia by Carthage in the later decades of the 6th century and continues until the first half of the 4th century B.C., is not easy to spot in the buildings, but is well documented thanks to the various items found and the contemporary hypogeum necropolis.

The entire complex that can still be seen was formed between the mid 4th century B.C. and the 2nd century B.C.: other burial grounds and the opening of the tophet (fig. 3) correspond to it.

Fig. 3 - The area of the tophet (GUIRGUIS 2013, fig. 7).

Monte Sirai was abandoned for a long period from around the early decades of the 1st century B.C. But was inhabited again in the period of Late Antiquity, with extended destruction of buildings between the 6th and 7th century B.C.