Identity, community and ‘language of power’ in byzantine Sardinia: burials in nuraghi (seventh - ninth c. CE)

The paper is about the archaeology of Byzantine Sardinia, and focuses on series of single and multiple burials dated between seventh and ninth c. CE. These have been found in nuraghi, the latter a typical series of architectures of original protohistoric chronology, many of which were reused in the Middle Ages as rural settlements. The graves in nuraghi contained many metal artefacts, such as weapons, apparel accessories, and coins. This set of evidence is open to a semantic reading as status symbols, which is also suggested by the strategic position of the nuraghi in the rural settlement. Can the combination of these two aspects be the light of a ‘language of power’ in use by the rural communities of Byzantine Sardinia?