Nuraghe | EPFL Graph Search

Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?

Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of GraphSearch.

The nuraghe or nurhag is the main type of ancient megalithic edifice found in Sardinia, developed during the Nuragic Age between 1900 and 730 B.C. Today it has come to be the symbol of Sardinia and its distinctive culture known as the Nuragic civilization. More than 7,000 nuraghes have been found, though archeologists believe that originally there were more than 10,000. Natively, the structure is called a nurhage (nuˈɾaɣɛ, nuˈraːɡe; plural: Logudorese Sardinian nuraghes, Campidanese Sardinian nuraxis nuˈɾaʒizi, Italian nuraghi). According to the Oxford English Dictionary the etymology is "uncertain and disputed": "The word is perhaps related to the Sardinian place names Nurra, Nurri, Nurru, and to Sardinian nurra 'heap of stones, cavity in earth' (although these senses are difficult to reconcile). A connection with the Semitic base of Arabic nūr 'light, fire, etc.' is now generally rejected." The Latin word murus ('wall') may be related to it, being a result of the derivation: murus–*muraghe–nuraghe. However, such theory is debated. An etymological theory suggests a Proto-Basque origin by the term *nur (stone) with the common -ak plural ending; the Paleo-Sardinian suffix -ake is also found in some Indo-European languages such as Latin and Greek. Another possible explanation is that the term nuraghe came from the name of the Iberian mythological hero Norax, and the root *nur would be an adaptation of the Indo-European root *nor. The typical nuraghe is situated in areas where previous prehistoric Sardinian cultures had been distributed, that is not far from alluvial plains (though few nuraghes appear in plains currently as they were destroyed by human activities such as agriculture, dams, road building etc.) and has the outer shape of a truncated conical tower, thus resembling a medieval tower, with a tholos-like vault inside.

About this result

This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.

Related concepts (17)

Related lectures (3)

Megalith

A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The word was first used in 1849 by the British antiquarian Algernon Herbert in reference to Stonehenge and derives from the Ancient Greek words "mega" for great and "lithos" for stone. Most extant megaliths were erected between the Neolithic period (although earlier Mesolithic examples are known) through the Chalcolithic period and into the Bronze Age.

Nuragic civilization

The Nuragic civilization, also known as the Nuragic culture, was a civilization or culture on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, Italy, which lasted from the 18th century BC (Middle Bronze Age) (or from the 23rd century BC ) up to the Roman colonization in 238 BC. Others date the culture as lasting at least until the 2nd century AD and in some areas, namely the Barbagia, to the 6th century AD or possibly even to the 11th century AD. The adjective "Nuragic" is neither an autonym nor an ethnonym.

Sherden

The Sherden (Egyptian: šrdn, šꜣrdꜣnꜣ or šꜣrdynꜣ; Ugaritic: šrdnn(m) and trtn(m); possibly Akkadian: šêrtânnu; also glossed “Shardana” or “Sherdanu”) are one of the several ethnic groups the Sea Peoples were said to be composed of, appearing in fragmentary historical and iconographic records (ancient Egyptian and Ugaritic) from the Eastern Mediterranean in the late 2nd millennium BC. On reliefs, they are shown carrying round shields and spears, dirks or swords, perhaps of Naue II type.

Numerical Integration: Composite Formulas MATH-251(c): Numerical analysis

Explores numerical integration through composite formulas, accuracy estimation, and error evaluation in integration methods.

Quantum Measurement Analysis CS-308: Introduction to quantum computation

Explores quantum measurement analysis, including the Simon problem and geometric analogies.

Linear Systems: Factorization and Cholesky MATH-250: Numerical analysis

Explores linear systems, Cholesky factorization, LU factorization, and matrix precision.