The historic centre of Posada has been the focus of some researches carried out by the Archaeological Heritage Department in recent years, during which a small amount of ceramic material was recovered (fragments of amphorae, figs. 1-2), which leads us to the assumption that this territory was occasionally inhabited during the Phoenician Age and then more stably during the Punic Age, probably with the aim of exploiting the mineral resources of the immediate hinterland of Posada.

Fig. 1 - Fragment of a Phoenician amphora from Posada (from SANCIU 2010, fig. 13).

Fig. 2 - Handle with stamp from Posada (from SANCIU 2012, figs. 7-8).

The eastern coast of Sardinia, where Posada is located, is the area where the first contacts with Rome, with the Etruscan and Italic people probably occurred, well before the military occupation of the island in 238 B.C.

In fact, at the foot of the hill on which the medieval Castello della Fava stands, is the location where some scholars place the ancient settlement of "Feronia" (fig. 3), mentioned in the "Geography" treatise by Claudius Ptolemy, hypothesising the presence of an Etruscan-Roman settlement on the east coast of Sardinia during the fourth century B.C.

Fig. 3 - In red the indication of "Feronia civitas" in the Septima Europe Tabula map, in Ptolomeus Claudius, Cosmographia, Ulma 1482 (from http://www.sardegnacultura.it/imghigh/001.jpg).

This hypothesis is confirmed by the discovery in 1923, in an undisclosed location of Posada, of a bronze statue depicting an Italic-type Heracles (fig. 4), dated between the late fifth and early fourth centuries B.C.

Fig. 4 - The statuette of Hercules, Posada (from http://www.exibart.com/profilo/imgpost/rev/509/rev32509(1)-ori.jpg).

The Roman presence in the area of Posada is also evidenced by the discovery of square blocks of local limestone and by other relevant findings of ceramic materials (fragments of black glazed pottery).