Crisis and Recovery: The Cost of Sustainable Development in Nuragic Sardinia

Abstract

Crises are thresholds in human history, often marking substantial transformations in societies. Crises, however, are not instants in time. They start, unfold, and develop in a process that is often traumatic for social systems, with outcomes ranging from catastrophe to complete recovery. In this article, catastrophic models are employed to understand a non-catastrophic outcome: the complete recovery that nuragic Sardinia experienced after a long crisis, caused in the first place by unsustainable strategies of territorial expansion. Starting from the premises of the ‘Tragedy of the Commons’, it is argued that the transformation of nuragic society was the best way of avoiding the constraints that the social structure imposed on the perspective of a sustainable growth. The study is based on a geostatistical analysis of a large sample of settlements, and it attempts to quantify population growth ratios for the Late Bronze Age.

Radiocarbon Dated Trends and Central Mediterranean Prehistory

“…BC (McLaughlin et al, 2020a;Thompson et al, 2020), and whilst the phasing of the Maltese temples remains difficult (Grima, 2008), it has been suggested that the present form of most megalithic sites on the islands reflects a final episode of restructuring and ritual elaboration at a crucial point towards the end of the Temple Period (Malone, 2007). Episodes of crisis management have been noted in monument-building societies elsewhere, as in the Sardinian Bronze Age (Ialongo, 2018), although in the case of the Maltese Islands the recovery was short lived. Activity on the islands appears to have tipped into decline after 2500 cal.…”

Establishing the Middle Sea: The Late Bronze Age of Mediterranean Europe (1700–900 BC)

“…The expansion eventually involved more or less the entire island, with central regions maintaining the highest density, sometimes more than two nuraghi per square kilometer. During this period, the overall settled surface (ideally correlated to demographic figures) grew by 800 to 1400% (Ialongo 2018). Villages often developed around preexisting nuraghi.…”

“…97-107). Based on hypothetical figures, it cannot be excluded that the population continued to grow even during this apparent crisis (Ialongo 2018).…”

“…The process was repeated until densely settled compounds measuring c. 20-50km 2 were formed. This probably means that single settlements were meant to remain small, and that groups of settlers were sent out to found new sites when demographic pressure grew too high (Ialongo 2018). This pattern has been explained as the outcome of small communities based on patrilineal/patrilocal lineages (Webster 1996, pp.…”

“…331-332). In Sardinia, Nuragic groups experienced a moment of crisis but were able to identify strategies to cope with it (Ialongo 2018). Their links with the eastern Mediterranean began to dwindle in the 12th century, despite continued contact with economic centers such as Cyprus.…”