Uomo e ambiente nell’area della necropoli fenicia e punica occidentale di Nora (Cagliari, Sardegna)

The paper presents the results of the investigations carried out at the west Phoenician and Punic necropolis of Nora (Sardinia, Italy), located near the northern limit of the isthmus joining the city’s promontory to the hinterland. In particular, the study is oriented to the analysis of the relationship between the anthropic activities documented here and the geological context, characterized by the presence of a compact sandstone bank on which the necropolis was established. In the first phase (before 7th century B.C.E.), human intervention leads to the creation of a stepped quary; the area is then exploited for the creation of an incineration necropolis, used between the 7th and 6th centuries B.C.E. Later, in the Punic age, the thickness of the rocky bank was fully used for the construction of hypogeal chambers intended for burials, until, in the Roman age, massive stone material extraction operations were carried out.