Most scholarly work on Sardinia has been published in Italian. There is an excellent recent survey of much of Sardinia's prehistory by Gary S. Webster, A Prehistory of Sardinia 2300-500 BC (Sheffield, 1996). The standard prehistory is G. Lilliu, La civiltą dei Sardi dal Paleolitico all'etą dei nuraghi, 3d edition (Turin, 1988). David Trump is wide-ranging in Nuraghe Noeddos and the Bonu Ighinu Valley, Excavation and Survey in Sardinia (Oxford, 1990). Essays in English covering a variety of ancient periods can be found in R. J. Rowland, Jr. (hereafter, RJR) and Miriam S. Balmuth, Studies in Sardinian Archaeology (Ann Arbor, 1984) and in Miriam S. Balmuth, Studies in Sardinian Archaeology II: Sardinia in the Mediterranean (Ann Arbor, 1986). Good essays in various languages can be found in Sardinia in the Mediterranean: A Footprint in the Sea, Studies in Sardinian Archaeology Presented to Miriam S. Balmuth, edited by Robert H. Tykot and Tamsey K. Andrews (Sheffield, 1992), and in Arte Militare e Architettura nuragica: Nuragic Architecture in its Military, Territorial and Socio-economic Context, edited by Barbro Santillo Frizell (Stockholm, 1991). Essays mostly in Italian are in Sardinia antiqua, Studi in onore di Piero Meloni in occasione del suo settantesimo compleanno (Cagliari, 1992). For geography, climate, etc., see Naval Intelligence Division, Italy, Volume 4 (Oxford, 1945), 511-556; more fully in A. Mori, Sardegna (Turin, 1975) and R. Exel, Sardinien: Geologie, Mineralogie, Lagerstätten, Bergbau (Berlin, 1986). For soils, A. Pietracaprina, Atlante iconografico dei suoli della Sardegna (Sassari, 1980). The most up-to-date prehistoric chronology, far superior to any others found in publications or Web sites, is R. Tykot, "Radiocarbon Dating and Absolute Chronology in Sardinia and Corsica," in R. Skeates and R. Whitehouse, eds., Radiocarbon Dating and Italian Prehistory (London, 1993), 1-22; he also has an excellent essay, "Islands in the Stream: Stone Age Cultural Dynamics in Sardinia and Corsica," in Tykot et al., Social Dynamics of the Prehistoric Central Mediterranean (London, 1998). For Sardinia in the Iron Age, see C. Tronchetti, I Sardi: traffici, relazioni, ideologie nella Sardegna arcaica (Milan, 1988). For Phoenician and Punic Sardinia, one may begin with F. Barreca, La civiltą fenicio-punica in Sardegna (Sassari 1986), and for Roman Sardinia with P. Meloni, La Sardegna romana, 2d ed. (Sassari, 1990).
While there is a fine line between documenting statements made in the text and obsessively demonstrating erudition, I hope that readers will find the following useful.
Carthaginian control of the sea: F. W. Walbank, A Historical Commentary on Polybius, vol. 1 (Oxford, 1957), 73. Protecting Italian commerce: F. Cassola, I gruppi politici nel III secolo a. C. (Rome, 1968) 50-56. Special issues by Carthage to foment rebellion: E. Acquaro in Rivista di Studi Fenici 2 (1974), 105-107. For prehistoric continuities into the Roman period see RJR, "Aspetti di continuitą culturale nella Sardegna romana," Latomus 460-470, and "When did the Nuragic Period in Sardinia End?" in Sardinia antiqua (above), 165-175. For names of indigenous Sardinians, RJR in Names 21 (1973), 97-102, and R. Zucca in L'Africa Romana 7 (1990), 655-67. For the survey project of which the survey at Bauladu was a part, see S. L. Dyson and RJR, "Survey and Settlement Reconstruction in West-Central Sardinia," American Journal of Archaeology 96 (1992), 203-24. For the production of grain, RJR in Mediterranean Historical Review (5 (1990), 14-20. For the symbol of Tanit at Cagliari, RJR, I ritrovamenti romani in Sardegna (Rome, 1981), 27. Temple of Bes at Bithia, RJR, I ritrovamenti..., 20. Cemeteries at Olbia: Ibid., 83. The quotation on Rome's not needing the western coast of Sardinia is from F. Barreca in R. D. Barnett and C. Mendleson (eds.), Tharros: A Catalogue of Material in the British Museum from Phoenician and other Tombs at Tharros, Sardinia (London, 1987), 23; the coin of Ballaeus is from G. K. Jenkins in the same volume, 118. For the northern fortifications, R. Zucca, Tharros (Oristano, 1984), 47; for the temples, ibid., 54-58; for the Capitolium, ibid., 74. Roman Republican pottery at Neapolis: R. Zucca, Neapolis e il suo territorio (Oristano, 1987), 67. For Sulcis, C. Tronchetti, S. Antioco (Sassari, 1989). For Nora: C. Tronchetti, Nora (Sassari, 1984). For immigrants to Cagliari from the continent, see S. Angiolillo, "A proposito di un monumento con fregio dorico rinvenuto a Cagliari," in Studi in onore di Giovanni Lilliu per il suo settantesimo compleanno (Cagliari, 1985), 99-110 + 8 figures; "Il teatro-tempio di Via Malta a Cagliari: una proposta di lettura," Annali della Facoltą di Lettere e Filosofia dell'Universitą di Studi di Perugia 24 (1986/87), 57-81 + 5 figures; and R. Zucca, in S. Igia Capitale Giudicale (Pisa, 1986), 167. For the vigor of commerical life in Cagliari, M. A. Mongiu, in S. Igia, 139. For Olbia's period of greatest prosperity: D. Panedda, Olbia nel periodo punico e romano (Rome, 1943), 53; for the area of the Villa Tamponi, Ibid., 91f. For a Punic settlement at Porto Torres, Barreca, La civiltą fenicio-punica (above), 309. For Roman Porto Torres, A. Mastino and C. Vismara, Turris Libisonis (Sassari, 1994). For Byzantine Sardinia, G. Paulis, Lingua e cultura nella Sardegna bizantina (Sassari, 1983); new line of research: RJR, "Su alcuni agiotoponimi greco-orientali in Sardegna," Quaderni Bolotanesi 17 (1991), 311-319.
Sardinia was well ahead of the curve in getting on-line; indeed, Vincenzo Santoni, Archaeological Superintendent for the Provinces of Cagliari and Oristano, told me in November 1996 that the National Archaeological Museum in Cagliari was the first in Italy to be available on the web (www.crs4.it/OLD/RUGGIERO/MUSEO/mus_ind.html); it included a link to "Archaeological Resources in Sardinia" (www.crs4.it/~zip/MUSEO), with links to many other sites, some of which also have further links elsewhere. There are political, physical, and satellite maps, and an outline history of the island by Prof. Cesare Casula. The daily newspaper from Cagliari (www.unionesarda.it) often contains historical, archaeological and cultural articles and has a well-functioning "research in the archive" section. (The other daily newspaper, from Sassari, www.lanuovasardegna.it, is less user friendly.) A search for "Sardegna" on the Italian Internet portal www.virgilio.it on 22 November 1998 turned up 390 Italian sites, which can be perused for additional information.
copyright Last update 22 February 2007 .