Il canonico Spano e la Civiltà Nuragica

Giovanni Spano was undoubtedly one of the first scholars to actively and profitably deal with archeology in Sardinia. Although his research ranged from prehistory to the Middle Ages, a particular place in his interests is occupied by the prehistory and protohistory of the island, with particular regard to the Nuragic civilization and its best-known monuments, the «mysterious Sardinian Nuraghi, ... these stupendous monuments which, prior to any written history, tower throughout the Sardinian soil...», as Spano himself writes in his volume “Memory above the Nuraghi of Sardinia” (translation by the Authors). In this work we want to critically examine, also in the light of current theories and recent discoveries, Spano’s contributions to research in the Sardinian protohistoric archaeology, highlighting what is still current in his studies and what has now been overcome with the progress of scientific investigations.