The Nuraghic “People of Bronze” Come Back to Life

Last year in September, I set out to explore the ancient colonies of the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, which have been unearthed along the coast of Sardinia.

At that time, I also visited many Nuraghi sites—the ruins of the ancient inhabitants of Sardinia, who lived 4,000 years ago in a honeycomb of structures that surrounded a central tower.

These Nuraghi dwellers have been nicknamed the “People of Bronze” after the numerous bronze mini statuettes, which have been discovered throughout the island.

During my travels, I picked up a fascinating book entitled the People of Bronze (il Popolo di bronzo in Italian) by Angela Demontis, who describes to minute detail the styles and fashion of the Nuraghic men.

As a fashion designer with an extensive knowledge of ancient history, Angela has succeeded in deciphering Nuraghic menswear, which she sketches throughout her book:
Nuraghic Fashion: Part 1
Nuraghic Fashion: Part 2
Nuraghic Fashion Part 3

Now for the next two months, the public will have the opportunity to see the bronze statutes in relation to the life-size mannequins, which have been reconstructed in the typical Nuraghic dress.

The exhibition will be held at the Archaeological Museum of Cagliari from April 15-June 15.

In Angela’s own words, “the People of Bronze have finally come back to life!”

Photos Copyright Provincia di Cagliari.

Book Review 3: "The People of Bronze"

This is the third article that I have translated from the book, the People of Bronze (il Popolo di bronzo in Italian), which marvelously describes the styles of the Nuraghic men, who lived more than 4,000 years ago in Sardinia. For more information on the author, please refer to Part I and Part II:

Armored Archer from Usellus

This little statuette represents the magnificent level attained by the Nuraghic artists in their sculptural work of descriptive reproductions and shows the evolution of warrior armament right to the minimal details.

Unfortunately the little statue had been already disappeared by the time Giovanni Lilliu described it in his beautiful book, Sculptures of Nuraghic Sardegna, 1966.

The clothing worn by this archer recalls that of the Chinese warriors of the Emperor Qin Shi, 3rd century BC (Xi An, China), depicted in the famous “terracotta army,” as well as the fabulous armament of the Japanese samurai. The helmet is a conical type, presenting a very high and elaborate rim with a lower part of spiral work and an upper part that is bound to metal studs. In back, the head armor presents a decoration of herringbone, while the braids fall in front.

The peculiarity of this helmet is the small fox or weasel head, which is placed in front just under the plume. The statuesque figure represents the type of animal force that is incarnated in a warrior: the fox representing astuteness and the weasel—speed. It not merely recalls the depiction of the Egyptian god Anubis but moreover the description of the archer Dolon, a character of the Iliad (Book X), who wears “a helmet of a weasel”!

Ours is wearing a long overcoat that covers the body, almost down to the knees; the upper part seems to be elaborated with reinforced metal plates, which shield also as short sleeves. He is wearing a large defensive plate that hangs from a Y-shape harness, similar to that of No. 38, which is finely decorated and extends to the rear where it supports a cone-like case, a quiver, and launching cane.

The legs are protected from knee to ankle by finely made shin guards, which are composed of a reinforced tibial finishing with tassels on the top and a snug-fitting structure that seems to be made of strips of intertwined leather.

In back, ligatures create extra space to alleviate the complex structure and allow for easy bending of the limbs. The feet are bare. His right hand is clenching an object, which has disappeared but could be a weapon—perhaps a javelin?

As for the left arm, it is protected by a wonderful example of an armored glove (similar to those of the samurai), which, on the back of the hand, bears protective metal washers. The rest of the limb shows a reinforced splint and a long elbow guard, both of which are connected to the sleeve of his jacket with leather straps. The weapon that he is clenching is a long, simple bow.

Particularly curious is the object that is strapped across the shoulder, which can be seen in part from under the arm. They look like two tubes of equal length with some metal fittings. What could it be?

Given the position that allows a rapid extraction, maybe it was a quiver with a reserve of arrows... or it could be a tool disassembled into two pieces to reassemble when the need arises, such as with a javelin or a spear? Unfortunately, one can only dream since the precious and unique figurine has disappeared. It would be useful, given its immense historical value, to inquire into its whereabouts.

Photos & text Copyright Angela Demontis 2005, used with permission.

Book Review 2: "The People of Bronze"

This is a second article that I have translated from the book, the People of Bronze (il Popolo di bronzo in Italian), which describes in great length the fashion of the Nuraghic men, who lived more than 4,000 years ago in Sardinia. For more information on the author, please refer to Part I:

Man with Jacket and Hood

The character represented here is wearing his hair in two short braids, which, starting from the very top, fall down in front of his ears. In back, the hair is kept short.

He is wearing a garment of clothing, which I would dare to define incredibly “modern.” It consists of a jacket that is closed in front with long sleeves and a hood. The shortest section of the coat is decorated with a triple band that ends in a frill with long fringes. In front, on the lapels, one can see the buttons that close it. Underneath it, the hem of a simple tunic hangs out.

In addition, this man of Serri is wearing a pair of long pants that have a crease in front and in the back. The feet are bare. He is carrying a plate of food for offering.

Of important note, the custom of men wearing braids has persisted in Sardinia until about 1800. In fact, numerous noble Sardinians used to wear such a hairdo with pride, as cited in the dictionary Angius-Casalis and in the stories of Grazia Deledda.

Photos & text Copyright Angela Demontis 2005, used with permission.

Book Review 1: "The People of Bronze"

When I was travelling through Sardinia earlier this month, I picked up a fascinating book entitled the People of Bronze (il Popolo di bronzo in Italian), which describes to minute detail the styles and fashion of the Nuraghic men, who lived more than 4,000 years ago.

In a previous article, Nuraghic Men Rocked the Styles!, I posted a design and gleaned much information from the book, which deeply impressed me. I am amazed at the author’s keen insights into the styles of her Sardinian ancestors and, in turn, I was equally struck by their sense of fashion.

The author, Angela Demontis, is an artist and designer, who for many years contributed to the Naturalistic Museum Sa Corono Arruba as scientific designer. Angela has been fascinated with the bronze statuettes called bronzetti, which she describes to great length in her book.

For the next several articles, I have obtained permission from the author to post the English translation of three designs, which represent the Nuraghic fashion scene. The following article is entitled A Man with a Bag from Aidomaggiore:

This bronzetto, unfortunately very destroyed, represents a man who is carrying some very important objects on his shoulder. On his head rests a simple cap and he has short hair.

It seems that he is wearing a tunic with one flap crossing the other, as seen with models no. 70, 72, 80; but they could also be a Cossack and a skirt, which is tied at the sides. The shoulders are covered with a rectangle mantle, not very long, with a turned-up collar, which is closed with double latches and a button.

This person from Aidomaggiore holds in his fist a double rod, which, resting on his shoulder is bent probably due to the weight of the objects at both extremities. In front, exactly under the hand, we see an object, which, although difficult to interpret, I have rendered as seen in the design.

Extreme corrosion and particularly the fact that it was not kept in a museum make the analysis of the object difficult. Hanging from the rod in the back, we see a cylindrical object whose surface is divided into six sections.

Although corroded, one can see clearly the little handles, strap, and hinges of the symmetrical enclosures placed at both ends of the container. It consists of a handbag with two caps (in the design at the bottom), which probably served as a case for musical instruments like the benas and launeddas (‘triple flutes of cane’).

Containers like this are still used by the “old” maestros exactly for carrying such cane instruments. One cannot exclude other uses, too, such as for carrying various tools and other.

Photos & text Copyright Angela Demontis 2005, used with permission.

Nuraghic Men Rocked the Styles!

When it came to styles and fashion, the Nuraghic men rocked—literally! Various bronze statutes called bronzetti have been discovered allover Sardinia, giving testimony to the fashionable dress of the Nuraghic men. Take a close look at this picture of a bronzetto (left).

The clothing of the Nuraghic people has been cleverly analyzed and interpreted by Sardinian designer, who has recorded her findings in a fabulous book entitled il Popolo di Bronzo:

A chieftain is wearing a cap on his head, very similar to the Sardinian beret worn today. The front of this cap is folded with the upper and lower folds fastened with a button. Later, we shall see other statues sporting caps with fringes, rows of creases, or a central band spanning from back to front.

In back, the chieftain’s hair is parted and shaved in the shape of a wide triangle. Other statues evidence different manners of shaving, such as two waist-length braids with a part that has been shaved about an inch (2.5 cm) in width. Stylistic shaving was definitely in among the rocks!

The chieftain is dressed in a double tunic, one longer than the other, with the two fringed ends of a decorative belt hanging out in front. Tunics were often sleeveless. The neck of this tunic is round, but other statues feature very cool asymmetrical v-necks!

Strapped across one shoulder and around the chest is a leather bandolier, which holds a dagger. The staff—an offensive and defensive weapon—has four rows of buds fashionably arranged from top to bottom. The chief’s legs and feet are bare; others wore fancy sandals.

Finally, the chieftain dons a rectangular cape, which is stylishly folded down over the arms and sown into sleeves. He ties the mantle in back with a fringed scarf. Hey, matching scarves and belts! The bottom of the mantle has a decorative border.

Other curiosities of the bronzetti include Nuraghic men in short wrap-around skirts with a handbag under the arm and strapped over the shoulder—wearing nothing else but a high, wide band around the head. A v-shaped beard seems to be the Nuraghic suggestion for this look.

Nuraghic men also enjoyed wild hairstyles like a long twisted lock flowing down over one shoulder with a braid that wound around in a circle on top! Other statutes part the hair into two braids, which are wound into circles at each side around the ears.

Now it is your turn to check out the bronzetti below and try to decipher what other styles were rocking in the nuraghi!



For more reading on Nuraghic men and their fashion, please refer to the following articles:

Nuraghic Fashion: Part 1
Nuraghic Fashion: Part 2
Nuraghic Fashion Part 3

Photo top left from the Museo archeologico di Pula.
Photo middle right Copyright Angela Demontis 2005.
Slideshow from the Polo Museale Casa Zapata in Barumini.