Necropolis of Is Pirixeddus

• Punic Age - Roman Age - Late Ancient Age, end VI century B.C. - VII century A.D.

The ancient Punic inhabitants of Sulky, the current town of Sant'Antioco, used to bury their dead in the cemetery, which at the time was located outside the town, and whose graves were dug on a rocky hill, as was typical for the Punic people and was also the case in Carthage and Cagliari (Tuvixeddu).

What we know today, which is still visible and at least partially open, is what remains of the Punic necropolis, which grew between the end of the VI - V centuries and about the third century B.C. (fig. 1), while the Phoenician necropolis was identified thanks to sporadic findings, near the present Via Perret, in the lower part of the town, towards the sea, and dates back to the seventh century B.C.

Fig. 1 - Part of the necropolis in Sulky highlighting the irregular orientation of the graves (http://www.sardegnadigitallibrary.it/index.php?xsl=615&s=17&v=9&c=4461&id=29043).

The Punic necropolis was later reused by the Romans both during the Republican age (between the second and first centuries B.C.) and then in the imperial one (at least for the first century A.D.) (fig. 2).

Fig. 2 - Cappuccina Tomb in the Is Pirixeddus sector (photo by Unicity S.p.A).

Later, from the fourth and fifth centuries AD, the necropolis was used by early Christians as a catacomb, joining different burial chambers through openings in the common walls between the various spaces, thereby creating new burial areas either through rectangular pits dug in the floor, or by excavating the wall in order to create a recess in which to dig a sarcophagus in the lower part while the upper part was arched (arcosolium tomb); sometimes these tombs are decorated with paintings.

The two main sections of the catacombs are located under the parish church:

1) Catacombs of Sant'Antioco;

2) Catacombs of Santa Rosa, also under the church, very small, consisting of only two environments (fig. 3).

Fig. 3 - Plan of the catacombs of Sant'Antioco and of those of Santa Rosa (from http://basilicasantantiocomartire.blogspot.it/p/catacombe.html))

Another complex which was reused in the modern era and up to recently (end of the 70’s of the twentieth century) consists of the houses in the underground village. Some graves were also reused as cellars and storage rooms and still perform that function (figs. 4-5).

Fig. 4 - Entrance to tombs readapted as houses in the underground village (photo by Unicity S.p.A.).

Fig. 5 - Old photograph of the still inhabited underground village (from http://www.parcogeominerario.eu/images/Grutti.jpg)

The most famous part of the necropolis is located on the eastern and north-eastern slopes of the hill now occupied by the Savoy stronghold of Su Pisu (fig. 6), which shows visitors the most common type of tomb within the funerary area, the underground chamber tomb, with an access corridor called dromos (fig. 7).

Fig. 6 - Stronghold of Su Pisu, entrance side (photo by Unicity S.p.A.).

Fig. 7 - Detail of the dromoi seen from above (from http://www.sardegnadigitallibrary.it/index.php?xsl=615&s=17&v=9&c=4461&id=29211).

This corridor leads to the burial chamber, through a landing which served to position the deceased for his entry into the chamber, which often occurred on a wooden stretcher, while the sometimes carved and tastefully decorated sarcophagus could be assembled inside the room. The entrance to the burial chamber was located at the end of the stairs and in front of the landing (fig. 8).

Fig. 8 - Access door to one of the burial chambers of the necropolis, sector of Is Pirixeddus (Photo by Unicity S.p.A)

It could have consisted of a large room divided by a partition whose front could be decorated both by very simple carved architectural elements (a projecting band representing a capital for example), and by real high-reliefs: this is the case of the two tombs, one discovered in 1968, the other in 2002, in which the partition (in the first one) and the central pillar (in the second one) were decorated with a life-size relief, representing an Egyptian-style figure, i.e. dressed and presented as an Egyptian (fig. 9).

Fig. 9 - Egyptian-style High Relief (from http://www.comune.santantioco.ca.it/cms/images/stories/archeo/ipogeoaffrescato.png)

He is in fact striding, his right arm to his chest and his left along the body, and is depicted with a beard and wearing a short skirt and klaft, the typical kerchief which is often found in the iconography of the Egyptian people, first of all the pharaohs.

The rooms could therefore hold one or more deceased over time and when the density of the underground graves left no more room for new burials, new rooms were obtained by digging at different levels from those which had previously been excavated. In addition to the underground graves with a large room divided by a partition, we can also find those with a single burial chamber, which represent the older type (fig. 10).

Fig. 10 - Plan of tomb 2 AR (from BARTOLONI 1987, Fig.2).

The tombs have no precise orientation characterising them, but appear to have been dug with no particular layout (fig. 11).

Fig. 11 - Part of the necropolis of Sulky highlighting the irregular orientation of the graves (http://www.sardegnadigitallibrary.it/index.php?xsl=615&s=17&v=9&c=4461&id=29043).

The deceased was laid, wrapped in a shroud or a tunic, inside the burial chamber on a wooden stretcher or in a sarcophagus, with his accompanying goods and all the items relating to the funeral ritual, such as terracotta pottery, terracotta or coloured glass ointment-holders and his personal items, such as necklace amulets and pearls made of glass paste, scarabs, jewellery (rings, necklaces, earrings), razors and various objects which tell us something about the deceased, whether man, woman or child, and in some cases may reveal what job he had when alive (fig. 12).

Fig. 12 - Reconstruction of a Punic burial inside the underground village (photo by Unicity S.p.A).