- chapter 10: The Western Mediterranean before the Etruscans –
Figure 10.6 Distribution map of the oxhide ingots in the Mediterranean (elab. Milletti 2012).probably also tin) ingots, together with a bronze craftsman with his tools, appointed to
the retrieval and working of metal scraps, also carried on board, on the whole depicting
a time of crisis (Vagnetti 2000: 66).
OXHIDE INGOTS IN THE WEST-CENTRAL
MEDITERRANEANThe situation of the discoveries of oxhide ingots in the west-central Mediterranean has
been extensively studied recently (Lo Schiavo et al. eds. 2009) and the situation is not
changed, as far as Sicily, Corsica and southern France are concerned. In Sicily, there is up to
now only in Lipari a hoard with hundreds of fragments of oxhide and plano-convex ingots
and scraps of weapons and tools; in the other two sites of Cannatello and Thapsos, one
fragment each was found. Two whole oxhide ingots were discovered in north-east Corsica,
at S. Anastasìa, south of Bastia and in the deep water of Sète, a coastal site of the Hérault.
Totally different is the situation in Sardinia, where not only is there actually the
highest occurrence of fi nds outside of Cyprus, but also where new discoveries from the
archaeological excavations are daily brought to light (Lo Schiavo 2011).
The fi rst report of the discovery of oxhide ingots, at Serra Ilixi in central Sardinia in
1857, was by Giovanni Spano, Canon and Senator, which was followed by those discovered
at Ayia Triada in Crete and published by Luigi Pigorini in 1904. Five ingots were found
all together, side by side, during ploughing, at the base of a demolished nuraghe known
as “Serra Ilixi”; one of the ingots was acquired by the Museo Archeologico Nazionale of
Cagliari and two more by Spano, who later left them to the same museum, of which he
was the founder and the Director and where they are on display.
The fi rst well-dated closed association is the Arzachena-Albucciu hoard, of the Recent
Bronze Age (LH IIIB, by comparison with the shape of the pottery found in dated levels
at Kommos, Crete). Recently two important discoveries of the same period were added
to the list: the Funtana Coberta-Ballao hoard (Manunza 2008) (Fig. 10.7) and Nuraghe
Serucci-Gonnesa. It is possible that the appearance of Cypriot oxhide ingots happened
earlier in Sardinia, as their burial in the foundation of a Nuragic tower (Bisarcio-Ozieri)