Animal-rearing and agriculture were at the basis of the economy for the Nuragic population in Su Nuraxi. Food was based on produce of the land, especially wheat and barley and on the rearing of animals (cattle, pigs and sheep and goats), added to by products from hunting and fishing, as can be seen from the deer, wild boar, bird and sea mollusc remains.

The production and use of pottery ware used for the cooking of food are useful for reconstructing the various aspects of daily life in the Su Nuraxi settlement (fig. 1).

Fig. 1 - Miniature Nuragic ladle from Su Nuraxi (photo by Pinna P.P., RAS Photographic Archive).

During the Recent Bronze Age a new type of vase was produced used to boil liquids, the so-called “milk-boiling vase”. In the same period, several pots and trays were produced, which were low and open, that were especially suited to baking bread and various types of flatbread (fig. 2).

Fig. 2 - Su Nuraxi: bottom of Nuragic tray with comb-line decoration from (photo by Pinna P.P., RAS Photographic Archive).

The bread was also decorated using the dough “pintaderas” (clay stamps)  that left different patterns impressed on the bread (fig. 3).

Fig. 3 - Pintadera from hut 141 in Su Nuraxi (photo by Pinna P.P., RAS Photographic Archive).

With regard to the modes in which food was cooked, Nuragic kitchens had a number of supports that avoided direct contact between the container and the embers of the fire, including the horseshoe-shaped stove and the calefattoio.

Direct and indirect proof also shows the cultivation of vines and drinking of wine during the Nuragic Age. Chemical analyses have also shown that askoid pitchers were used for wine (fig. 4).

Fig. 4 - Askoid pitcher from Su Nuraxi (photo by Pinna P.P., RAS Photographic Archive).