In 1984 a medieval necropolis was discovered a few hundred metres from the Castle della Fava, situated in Part'e Sole. The excavation revealed 17 graves (many of them of children), some were pit tombs and others were carved in stone, dating from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries according to the elements which constituted the grave goods (fig. 1).

Fig. 1 - Necropolis of Part'e Sole, (Posada, NU) general plan of the site area (from D’ORIANO et alii 1989, fig. 41).

Since ancient times, the dead have been placed inside tombs together with their grave goods, which consisted of everyday objects (terracotta and glass vases, weapons, jewellery, coins), and which differed according to the era and social status of the deceased. Clothing items (belts, buckles) and devotional objects (tags, rosaries) are often found within Medieval Age burials.

The bubbled globe earring found in Part'e Sole falls under the category of the artefacts used as ornamental elements and it proves the necropolis was already in use during the early Middle Ages. It is a globular element (fig. 2) with four diametrically opposite extremities; the holes in the globe originally were intended for the insertion of the elliptic ring of the earring, which is now lost. This small gem may be compared with the ones from the other island context of Cornus, where earrings found in the necropolis are similar to the one found in Part'e Sole (fig. 3).

Fig. 2 - Bubbled globe earring from Posada (on the left) (from D’ORIANO et alii 1989, fig. 46).

Fig. 3 - Earrings from the necropolis of Cornus (from MARTORELLI, AMANTE SIMONI 1986, table CV).

Fig. 4 - Bubbled globe earrings from Bortigali, necropolis of Berre, VII century A.D. (From GIOIELLI 2004, p. 32, fig. 44).