Nuovi dati sul Portus Cuchusii Arestagni:
esiti della ricognizione archeologica costiera del 2018

ELEONORA FADDA

DOI: 
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23126757

Abstract

The paper addresses the issue of the location of the Portus Cuchusii Arestagni, the main harbour of Oristano, capital of the Giudicato of Arborea during the Late Middle Ages, by comparing documentary and cartographic sources with new archaeological evidence collected during a coastal survey conducted in 2018 along the Torregrande shoreline. The investigation, undertaken following a severe storm surge and focused on the area where the place name Cuguzzu has survived, revealed a significant scatter of ceramic, metal and stone artefacts. Macroscopic and typological analysis of the ceramic assemblage showed a clear predominance of locally produced wares, mainly comprising coarse wares, glazed, slip-coated and sgraffito-decorated ceramics, alongside a quantitatively smaller group of imported pottery, including wares from Liguria and Tuscany. Overall, the finds provide evidence of activity along this stretch of coastline beginning in the final phases of the Late Middle Ages and continuing throughout the Early Modern period. Although no preserved stratigraphic contexts were identified, the distribution of the finds, considered in relation to medieval documentary references to the Portus Cuchusii and the persistence of the place name in historical cartography, reinforces the archaeological significance of the coastal area northwest of the Gran Torre and allows the possible location of the ancient harbour to be defined with greater precision.

Keywords

Portus Cuchusii; Torregrande; harbours and landing places; archaeological survey; medieval pottery

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