(X-VII century B.C.)

In the Feronia area of Posada, near Monte Idda, a boat-shaped bronze vessel was found dating back to the Nuraghic Age; 5.8 cm high; 4.1 wide and 13.3 long. The boat has an elliptical shape with a flat bottom provided with corbels, while the sides are low and inclined towards the outside. On the bow there is a bovine protome with a rounded snout and semi-circular horns, attached to the hull by its long arched neck (fig. 1).

Fig. 1 - Nuraghic boat-shaped vessel from the Feronia area of Posada, near Monte Idda (from LA SARDEGNA NURAGICA 2014, sheet 17, p. 442).

These Nuraghic boats reproduce the hull of a boat on a small scale. At the moment, there are about one hundred and fifty bronze and several hundred ceramic boats known. While these types of artefacts when made of clay were used as lamps to illuminate the interior of the home or places of worship, as is now well established, there are still some doubts about the bronze ones. It is safe to say that they have a religious significance, as these boats, just like the bronze figures, have been found in sacred places (wells and sanctuaries), where they were deposited as particularly prestigious ex-voto offerings (figs. 2, 3, 4).

Fig. 2 - Boat-shaped vessel from Ogliastra (from LA SARDEGNA NURAGICA 2014, p. 432).

Fig. 3 - Boat-shaped vessel from Urulu-Orgosolo (from LA SARDEGNA NURAGICA 2014, p. 434).

Fig. 4 - Boat-shaped vessel from Mutrecu Biancu-Lula (from LA SARDEGNA NURAGICA 2014, p. 433).