282 Milanese
the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries.41 It thus serves as an archae-
ological reference for a certain type of settlement near the coast with relatively
wealthy residents, due to various physical indicators, including a lively level of
monetary and pottery circulation, which indicate an open economy made pos-
sible by the proximity to the coast.42
4 Other Forms of Rural Settlements: domos, curtes, and donnicàlias
The range of various types of rural residences in medieval Sardinia is quite
rich and not represented by a single village inhabited by freemen, as in the
41 The situation had already changed by the 1330s, as is revealed by traces of a fire that
burned down some of the houses in the village and the onset of a depopulation, as people
drifted towards the city of Sassari.
42 Milanese, “Il villaggio medievale di Geridu,” pp. 55–67.
Figure 11.3 Hypothetical reconstruction of a group of buildings of the Geridu
village, with a communal courtyard and a bread oven in the center.
The living quarters are separated by a wooden wall from the
warehouse and the stables. The left building was used as an Inn
where wine was dispensed to the public. Reconstruction by Marco
Milanese, drawing by Angèlique Coltè.