Stone in the city. Extraction sites and spoliation of stone materials in the city of Nora (South -West Sardinia)

In this study we intend to read the "backstage" of the urban scene in the archaeological city of Nora, in the southwestern coasts of Sardinia, with the aim of identifying main urban processes that take into account the ancient supply and circulation of building materials essential for the urban formation. The intention is to create a different point of view in order to get a comprehensive picture of the urban form and characteristics, and also to define the social, cultural and economic context which led to the birth and development of the local building language, and to understand the relationship between the city and geo-resources in the surrounding region.In particular, the work intends to focus to the historical extraction sites and to the movement of construction materials, without neglecting the spoliation of monuments, to identify the plots between geology and urban structure, also in order to evidence as the historic cities possessed an unconscious smart approach. The choice of the city of Nora is not accidental; in fact, different kinds of local stones are undoubtedly the most widely used building materials within the city. The choice, optimization and use in buildings and urban infrastructures was masterly performed, without interruptions, from the late sixth century B.C. until at least the fourth or fifth century A.D. Already during his trip to Sardinia (1857) Alberto Ferrero La Marmora recognized in the peninsula of Is Fradis Minoris, close to the city ruins, traces of quarrying recorded in "quaternary grès" stone, widely used in buildings of Nora.. It will then Gennaro Pesce, who through his works (1957-1971) showed great interest in the main building materials and construction techniques used in Nora, providing insights on the architectural aspects, and then making a specific focus on building materials, wall structures and architectural taste in the city during Roman imperial age (IVth period of Nora). In particular, G. Pesce (1957) provided an essential list of stone materials mostfrequently used in Nora for buildings, which are: 1) carbonatic sandstone (Quaternary),2) fine-grained sandstone (Tertiary), 3) andesite (Tertiary), 4) limestone (Miocene); 5) pyroclastite (Miocene). The contribution wants to investigate the correlations between urban building and the aforesaid stone materials, whose extraction was proximal, and whose masterful use has allowed the construction of the city of Nora.