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Kitegeneration, Cagliari and Sardinia: not only sports and Kitesurfing but also culture and history.
If you are spending your sport and kitesurfing holidays in Cagliari and Sardinia, “train” also your mind and discover the fascinating history of statues of Monte Prama!
The statues of Monte Prama
40 years after they were found by a Sardinian farmer ploughing his in land, some of mysterious statues from antiquity are finally display at the national archaeological museum of Cagliari and at the town museum of Cabras.
The statues of Monte Prama, called also Giants of Monte Prama even that they are standing about 2 meters high, found in 1974 near the village of Cabras on the west coast of Sardinia, include archers and wrestlers carved in sandstone probably between the ninth and eight centuries BC (it was prior to the foundation of Rome!).
Researchers speculate as to the origins and role of this small but potent army of stone: because the statues of Monte Prama were discovered close to a nuragical necropolis, it has been supposed that the stone warriors guarded the tombs. Another theory is that they belonged to an not yet discovered nearby temple.
Actually 28 statues of Monte Prama are shown in Cagliari, while another 10 statues are shown at Museum of Cabras but the two exhibitions are complementary thanks to three-dimensional digital representations.
What are the statues representing?
To achieve the aim, we have to remain emotionally close to the statues. In this way their voice is clearly telling us who and what they are representing.
The statues show male people armed and dressed with extreme care.
Characters are not common ancestry. They are archers, warriors and ‘boxers’. There are no doubts about their rank: they have a leading position and are themselves the guardians and keepers of political power like all warriors in all societies of the ancient world.
The statues are in a solemn attitude, prepared to encounter with sacred (it is an attitude comparable with the attitude of bronzetti).
The museums of statues of Monte Prama
National Archaeological Museum of Cagliari, Sardinia
- Address: Cittadella dei Musei, Piazza Arsenale, Cagliari
- Tel: + 39 070 655911
- Time: 09.00 – 20.00, last entry 19.15; Closed on Mondays
- Admission fee: 5.00 euro; 18-25 years, 2.50 euro; under 18 and over 65 no charge.
Cabras Archaeological Museum, Sardinia
- Address: Via Tharros 121, Cabras
- Tel: + 39 0783 290636
Sources
- Thanks for support to AJF/ Design
- The Guardian
- La Nuova Sardegna