1) Introduction

Throughout the Nuragic period in Sardinia,beginning in the 12th century BC, sacred wells and fountains were often constructed, structures that were connected to the presence and cult of water and that were frequented throughout the following centuries.

The cult of water is an extremely ancient devotional practice dating back to prehistory.

These monuments can be traced to the cultic sphere thanks to the discovery of votive offerings left by the faithful, including statuettes, weapons and ornamental bronze objects.

The well temples and the fountains are present throughout the entirety of the regional territory and, according to the present state of archeological knowledge, number about 120: this indicates a role of primary importance held by these monuments connected to the cult of water.

2) The discovery

We are currently in an area known as Prèdio Canòpoli in which, in 1922, a sacred well from the Nuragic era was discovered fortuitously. Back then the site had been built on; in fact, there were six buildings erected on the small plot of land. It was the same Canopoli, the owner of one of the houses, who unearthed the ancient structure. News of the discovery spread in 1924 through the work of Antonio Taramelli, the archeologist who surveyed the area and described the details of the monument. However, immediately after these first probes, it was decided to cover the space in order to protect the structure, which was considered to be very delicate and difficult to preserve over time.

3) Description of the site

In 1979,the well was unearthed once again and, beginning in 1982 and throughout the nineties, the area around the sacred building was also surveyed, leading to the discovery of a series of structures surrounding the well temple, some sacred and some recognizable as dwellings used until the time of the Romans.

Standing out among these is a rectangular building that can be interpreted as a “Megaron” temple, or open-air environment related to worship, located to the north of the well itself. This space, which predates the well, testifies that this site, today incorporated in the village of Pèrfugas, had, even before the construction of the well itself, a strong religious significance linked to the presence of water.

The construction of the well can bedated back to the 12th century BC and was in use throughout the following centuries. The monument was originally enclosed by a themenos, or a sacred enclosure, no longer very discernable: the stretch which has been preserved was one of the long sides of the megaron temple.

4) Structure and construction techniques

The sacred well of  Predio Canopoli is among the most elegant exemplars of monuments linked to the cult of water discovered in Sardinia.

The structure is built with finely worked blocks of  limestones, perhaps harvested from the quarries of Laèrru. Given their shape, they have been labelled “T” or dovetail ashlars and are arranged in two rows, one inner and one outer according to the construction technique referred to as “dry and sack.” This type of construction involves the creation of two parallel stone walls, spaced apart and filled inside with waste material consisting of large and small rocks and manufacturing leftovers without the addition of binding substances such as mortar or cement.

The structure is subdivided into three distinct parts: The Vestibule, the staircase and the well chamber.

5) The vestibule

In the entrance to the well is an area referred to as the vestibule or atrium, rectangular and with a finely paved flooring.

It is possible to hypothesize that the vestibule once had a double sloping roof, drawing on the architecture of the fountain of Su Tempiesu of Orune. The discovery on this site of two small bronze figures that constitute part of the ex-votos dedicated to the worship of cults is owed to the endeavors of Canopoli.

Present in this site are three heavily worked limestone blocks. Two of these lean against the side walls, one in front of the other, and have been interpreted as seats to accommodate the celebrants; in the center, the third block represents a sort of “sacrificial table” or “lustral table” that probably acted as an altar for votive offerings during the process of worship.

6) The staircase

Continuing forward from the vestibule, one reaches the staircase, consisting of eight steps enclosed by two walls and leading down to the well chamber. Originally, seven of these eight steps would have been constantly submerged in water. All that remains of the ancient roofing are three blocks arranged at a scaled height that are an integral part of the structure and that formed a portion of an inverted staircase. The function of these blocks were to distribute the roofing’s weight among the sides of the structure, fortifying the construction’s stability.

7) The well chamber

The well chamber is a hypogeum, an underground chamber, and is perfectly circular and paved, with finely smoothed walls. Its depth today is around three meters and there is an overflow port located on the left side responsible for maintaining the water at a constant level. Water pours into the chamber through five drainage holes connected to a canal system on the outside of the monument. The chamber has the shape of a truncated cone, wider towards the bottom and narrower above; its top end is no longer intact but probably tapered off in the style of a tholos tomb, a false dome typical of the nuraghe.

8) The outer masonry

Seen from the outside, it is possible to note that the outer masonry’s ashlars have breast-shaped bumps similar to those found in other monuments related to cult worship, such as the fountain of Niedda in Perfugas and the Sacred Well of Irru in Nulvi. These protuberances could symbolize a mammillary motif related to a fertility cult or they could be simple structural elements, perhaps used to move and place stone blocks.

9) The findings

The findings in this site attest to the continual use of the area from the Nuragic age to the Medieval period. In addition to ceramic artifacts, such as pots, bowls, loom weights, spindle whorls and oil lamps, the most significant objects that can be attributed to the Nuragic period are two limestone models of nuraghe, two bronze daggers, and two bronzes statuettes representing an ox and a bull.

The ox is on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Cagliari, while the bull is at the National Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum of Sassari. The latter appears as a solid figure with short, muscular legs and a tail folded over its body and is one of the most elegant renderings of a bovine found in Sardinia. Both bronze statuettes were produced using the technique of lost-wax casting.

A copy of the bronze bull is exhibited, like most of the findings from the sacred well, in the room dedicated to the cult of water at the MAP (Paleobotanical Archeological Museum) of Perfugas.

Attributed to the Phoenician craftsmen of the Syro-Palestinian area is a very unique bone handle depicting a feline, perhaps a lioness or panther, belonging to a metal object (possibly a beard curler or a stylus), datable between the 9th and 8th centuries BC.

These findings testify to the lively commercial traffic that, in the Iron Age, involved Sardinia along the Mediterranean routes.

10) Excavation and reinforcement projects

The restoration operations carried out in 2019 involved the cleaning of several blocks and the reinforcement of the inner part of the walls.

The archaeological investigations carried out in conjunction with the restoration have unearthed a zoomorphic statuette in the round, made of limestone and without a head, a finding that is unique among artifacts dating back to the Nuragic period.