Monte Claro culture


The Monte Claro culture was a Chalcolithic culture that spread throughout the island of Sardinia around the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. It takes its name from a hill located in the city of Cagliari, where important discoveries were made.
Archaeologists divide the Monte Claro culture into four facies: Sassari, Nuoro, Campidano Oristanese. Within each facies there are recognizable peculiarities that concern not only the material culture but also the religious sphere and the settlement patterns. Characteristics of southern Sardinia are a variety of tombs types, including "oven-tombs", while in northern Sardinia appeared for the first time large megalithic defensive walls, one of which is that of Monte Baranta near Olmedo.
Its spread appears to have occurred through a slow expansion, which started from the South to the North of the island.
The settlements were often made up of houses with a rectangular or trapezoidal plant, which sometimes comprised different rooms. There is evidence of urban planning in some of the settlements