Many years ago I went on an archaeological project in Sardinia. We spend the first summer doing a survey of Nuraghi, the indigenous conical structures that are the symbol of ancient Sardinia.
Eventually we got permission to excavate a small village around one of them, Nuraghe Santa Barbara outside the town of Bauladu. There was little sign of a village until we had uncovered it and the bronze production workshop within it.
Through the magic of Google Maps and Wikimapia (if the magic is working), you can see the nuraghe and the village that surrounds it. You can zoom out and see the town of Balaudo as well.
Here’s the link
We also took overhead shots of the excavation. Here’s one, showing the excavation in progress. Here’s another showing a broader view of the village. (Thanks to Rob Tykot for archiving them).
The amazing thing, though, is that the interior of Sardinia was a wild and undiscovered place 25 years ago. Many of the directions to places like Sardinia’s famous “sacred wells” in the guidebooks were downright wrong.
Today you can just Google and go. You’ll find Sardinia, annotated by travelers. You could just grab a car and explore, finding these places with relative ease, but you’ll find them just hidden enough to make an adventure out of it. Cool.
Bauladu Revisited
We’ve since been back to the excavations in recent times. The village of Bauladu had elected Italy’s youngest mayor, who created a project for the local youth and recent graduates in archaeology to clean the site and work on the signage.
So, you can visit if you wish. There are even a couple of places to stay now. We had to rent a dig house.
Or, you can watch a video that shows some of the wonders of Sardinia:
You can also plan a trip to the island with our map and guide: