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Fig. 127—LA GIARA.

Scale 1 : 308,640.

The rubbish which accumulated in these nuraghi has yielded a multitude of objects which throw light upon the daily life of the inhabitants, and bear witness to their relative civilisation. The lower strata only contain hand-made utensils, stone arms, and pottery, but in the upper and more recent layers many articles of bronze have been found. Other monuments of cyclopean structure stand near these ancient dwellings. They are popularly known as “giants’ tombs,” and Signor {346} Sapi, who has examined a large number of them, has discovered in every instance the ashes of human beings.

Though very superstitious, the Sardinians have no legends respecting these dwellings of the aborigines, and at most attribute them to the devil. This absence of traditions is no doubt traceable to the almost total annihilation of the inhabitants by successive conquerors. The Carthaginians showed no mercy to the aborigines, and during the first centuries of Roman rule massacres and forcible emigration were the order of the day, and the gaps thus created were filled up by Italian colonists and exiles.

The ancient Sards were most likely Iberians. They are of low stature, and the climate, which has stunted the growth of wild and domesticated animals, appears to have influenced man likewise; but they are well proportioned and muscular, have an abundance of black hair and strong beards, and scarcely ever grow bald. There are minor differences in the Sards of the two provinces. Those of the north have generally oval features and an aquiline nose, whilst those near Cagliari, who are probably more mixed, have irregular features and prominent cheek-bones.

The inhabitants of the interior of the island are, perhaps, of purer race than any other Europeans. Their ancestors, no doubt, were of the most diverse origin, but most invasions which took place after the Roman era stopped short at the coast. The Vandals paid a visit to Sardinia, but all the other Germanic tribes, who ravaged nearly every other country of Western Europe, spared that island, and its inhabitants were thus able to preserve their manners and language. The Moors, Pisans, Genoese, Catalonians, and Spaniards, who successively invaded the island, never penetrated beyond the coast. There is only one exception to this rule, viz. that of the Barbaricini, who inhabit the mountain district of Barbagia, in the very centre of the island, and who are supposed to be the descendants of Berbers expelled from Africa by the Vandals. When they came to the island they were still pagans, and they intermarried with their neighbours, the Ilienses, an aboriginal tribe, pagans like themselves. They were converted to Christianity in the seventh century, and the sombre dress worn by their women reminds us of Barbary.

Of all the idioms derived from the Latin, that spoken in Sardinia has most resemblance to the language of the ancient Romans. More than five hundred words are absolutely identical. There are likewise a few Greek words not met with in any other Latin idiom, as well as two or three words which have no affinity with any other European tongue, and which are, perhaps, derived from the language spoken by the aborigines. The two leading dialects, those of Logoduro, in the north, and of Cagliari, are directly derived from the Latin, and are, perhaps, most nearly related to Spanish. At Sassari, and in some of the neighbouring coast districts, an Italian dialect is spoken which is very much like that of Corsica or Genoa. At Alghero the descendants of the Catalonian immigrants who settled there about the middle of the fourteenth century still speak their old Provençal. The Maurelli, or Maureddus, in the environs of Iglesias, who are probably Berbers, {347} and can be recognised by their narrow skulls, make use of a few African words. Maltzan looks upon the inhabitants of the fertile district of Millis as the purest representatives of African immigrants, and it was they who introduced the cultivation of the orange into Sardinia.

The Sardinians of the interior not only retain their ancient language, but likewise many of their ancient customs. Their dances are still the same as in the time of Greece. In the north the steps are regulated by the human voice, the chanters occupying the centre of the ring. In the south a musical instrument, the launedda, is used, which is nothing but an ancient flute, made of two or three reeds. The customs observed at christenings, weddings, and funerals are likewise of remote date. Marriage, as amongst nearly all the ancient inhabitants of Europe, is preceded by a feigned abduction of the bride. The latter, after she has entered the house of her husband, must not stir from her place during that day, nor speak a single word. Mute as a statue, she is no longer a sentient being, but a “thing,” the property of her husband. She is not permitted to see her relatives during three days, and in the south many women partly conceal their features.