Contribution Of Archaeology To Medieval And Modern Sardinia 299
Genoa. Indeed, this preponderance of commercial traffic from Savona in the
port of Castrum Ianuense (Castelgenovese) emerges in the early fourteenth-
century acts of the notary Francesco Da Silva, compiled in Castelgenovese and
Anglona between 1321 and 1326. These documents underscore the conspicuous
presence of merchants from Savona and the Riviera of Ponente, as opposed
to the Genoese in their own seigneurial stronghold. This seems logical, given
that the territorial seignioria of the Brancaleone Doria ran from Anglona (the
region of Castelgenovese) to the lower Piedmont, where dominus Saxelli dwelt.
The significant presence of Graffita Arcaica Savonese pottery in the seigniorial
territory of northwest Sardinia, and in strata dating to the late thirteenth or
early fourteenth centuries in Castelsardo/Castelgenovese, indicates a direct tie
with Savona under the control and direction of a powerful and supra-regional
territorial seignioria with a pronounced maritime mission.
7 Cemeteries
Attention to medieval burial grounds as biological archives of a given popula-
tion has recently emerged in Sardinia and is still sporadic. Mostly it has been
devoted to rare finds, such as articles of adornment and personal apparel.
Only occasionally are graves mentioned or anthropological evidence of the in-
humed bodies preserved and studied in a laboratory. Common methods of ex-
cavation reduce the potential of such research, by considering the skeleton as
solely a frame for rings, buttons, coins, etc. The uselessness of written sources
when it comes to reconstructing the biological history (diet, pathology, ergo-
nomics, genetics, DNA) of the people of medieval Sardinia leaves archaeology
responsible for providing such data.
Few Sardinian medieval graveyards have been published, and few of these
have been treated in depth. The number of cemeteries destroyed by private or
public agriculture or urbanization is certainly much higher than the number of
cemeteries about which we have systematic data. There are records of discov-
eries of medieval graves in the church of Santa Maria del Regno ad Ardara,85 at
San Gavino Monreale, San Sperate-Su Fraigu, Dolianova, Donori, and Ottana.86
The medieval graves uncovered in Selargius87 are known for the discovery
85 Giovanni Spano, Catalogo della raccolta archeologica sarda del canon. Giovanni Spano da
lui donata al Museo d’Antichità di Cagliari (Cagliari, 1860).
86 Pischedda (2000).
87 Paolo Benito Serra, “Saggi di scavo archeologico: relazione preliminare (1984–86),” San
Giuliano di Selargius (Cagliari) 6 (1989), pp. 227–235.