From Sardara come some examples of askoid jugs (from the Greek Askós = wineskin) which can be dated to the Nuraghic Age.

These are ceramic vases equipped with only one handle, with a globular or ovoid body and a tilted backwards neck. The artefact recovered from the archaeological site of the former town hall is characterised by a rod-shaped handle decorated with eight deep holes in line (figs. 1-2), while the two jugs found in the Nuraghic complex of S. Anastasia have, in one case, an obliquely cut opening, a rod-like handle with a truncated spout and a “circled dice eyed” decoration (fig. 3); in the other, a flattened ovoid body, a rod-like handle, and a yellowish band painted near the neck (fig. 4).

Nuraghic askoid jugs spread during the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. They have been found both in houses and in places of worship and it is thought that they were used during rituals, perhaps to hold the wine which could be taken directly from the container through a hole or a nozzle often located on the top of the handle.

Fig. 1 - Askoid jug from the archaeological site of the former town hall, Sardara, IX-VIII century B.C. (from BAGELLA 2014, sheet 46, p. 238).

Fig. 2 - Askoid jug from the archaeological site of the former town hall, Sardara, IX-VIII century B.C., detail of the handle (from BAGELLA 2014, sheet 46, p. 238).

Fig. 3 - Askoid jug from the Nuraghic complex of S. Anastasia, Sardara, IX-VIII century B.C., (from BAGELLA 2014, sheet 48, p. 238).

Fig. 4 - Askoid jug from the Nuraghic complex of S. Anastasia, Sardara, VIII-VI century B.C., (from Bagella 2014, sheet 50, p. 239).