Cagliari 327
the intercolumns, turning it into, perhaps, a private house.57 On the opposite
side, two large houses made of big blocks of stone, with at least two floors and
stairs, faced the paved road, with courtyards in front of the door.58 In the floor
of the portico, residual amphorae, pottery bottles, and other metallic objects,
together with pieces of frescos and bricks were found thrown inside a water
cistern when it went out of use (Fig. 12.4). The discovery of some coins in a
ceramic moneybox dates the disuse of the reservoir to the middle of the fifth
century AD. It is possible that when the Vandals attacked Cagliari the inhabit-
ants of the nearby houses hid their own goods in the cistern, from fear of the
imminent danger.
The archaeological site under Sant’Eulalia was transformed into a small un-
derground museum so that visitors can see and learn about the local history.59
The discovery of the fourth-century community of Carales confirmed the poet
Claudian’s description of how the town developed along the coast in a narrow
strip of land facing both harbors.60 With these excavations, it became clear
57 This phase of building is unpublished.
58 Martorelli and Mureddu, eds. “Scavi sotto la chiesa di S. Eulalia a Cagliari,” p. 286.
59 The publication of Sant’Eulalia is forthcoming.
60 Rossana Martorelli, “Cagliari in età tardoantica ed altomedievale,” in Cagliari tra passato e
futuro. Atti del Convegno (Cagliari, 13–15 novembre 2003), ed. Gian Giacomo Ortu (Cagliari,
Figure 12.3 Cagliari, archaeological area under the church of S. Eulalia, the road.
photo: from Cagliari. Le radici di Marina.