S. Antioco (Sardinia, Italy). “Sulci: Progetto Tofet”. First remarks on archaeometrical analyses of pottery (2015-2017)

The tophet sanctuary of ancient Sulci (S. Antioco, Sardinia) is a complex context, characterized by a lifespan dated between the 8th and the 2nd-1st century BCE. Some aspects of archaeological evidence present interesting clues of possible cultural interactions between indigenous people (Nuragic) and allogenous groups coming from the Levant (Phoenician). As a consequence, technical analyses of some findings have recently been started with the aim to investigate such a phenomenon. As a part of the “Sulci: Progetto Tofet”, this paper presents preliminary results of the archaeometrical study of pottery found in a sector of the sanctuary, excavated in the 1990s by the “Soprintendenza archeologica per le province di Cagliari e Oristano” (current “Soprintendenza ABAP per la città metropolitana di Cagliari e le province di Oristano e Sud Sardegna”, Ministry of Cultural Heritage). Mineralogical and petrographic analyses have been carried out, in order to identify composition, provenance of components and technological processes of the ceramic production.