LAUSR

Abstract Since ancient times, Sardinia has been characterized by a strong mining connotation and its enormous mineralogical potential has attracted several Mediterranean people including Phoenician-Punic (VIII–IV Century BC) and the Roman Empire (V Century AC). This strong metallurgical activity is testified by the presence of slags, tuyeres and ceramic artefacts found in particular into two different archaeological sites of West Coast of Sardinia: Tharros and the Montevecchio mines. The selection of these two sites has been dictated by the analysis of the Phoenician trade routes. The purpose of this study is to investigate and correlate the metallurgical skill reached from indigenous populations and the most advanced technologies imported from dominating peoples. Microchemical, microstructural and mineralogical investigations have been carried out by means of combined use of different analytical technique such as optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). A detailed analysis of recently found materials permits to better understand the degree of metal finishing in the extraction process that the ancient Sardinian metallurgists carried out. The results have shown that the two investigated archaeological sites are different for both historical period and metal extracted and worked. This study demonstrates a continuity and an evolution of skills through different historical dominations and it could be useful to reconstruct the routes, the trade and the cultural exchanges with the Phoenicians firstly and Romans later that led Sardinian to be a strategic centre in the Mediterranean.