Tim Klingenberg. THE TOWERS ARE LIT, ARE THEY HEARD? SENSORY INTERACTION BETWEEN NURAGHI & LANDSCAPE

THE TOWERS ARE LIT, ARE THEY ALSO HEARD? EVALUATING THE SENSORY INTERACTION BETWEEN NURAGHI AND THEIR LANDSCAPE
Tim Klingenberg (Institute of Archaeological Studies – Ruhr-University Bochum). Paper presented at the EAA 2025 session "New Approaches to Archaeoacoustic Studies" organised by Joshua Kumbani, Margarita Diaz-Andreu and Zorana Đorđević, representing the EAA Artsoundscapes and the Cult-Aural projects. Date: 2 September 2025. ABSTRACT:
The focus of research into the Nuragic period is the analysis of the eponymous buildings from the Sardinian Bronze Age. These buildings are significant in two respects: first, they characterise a specific chronological period; and second, they are indicative of the surrounding landscape. Previous research has described the Nuragic buildings as bastions with their own territory, leading to the assumption that they functioned as a centre for the ruling population. However, more recent research has developed alternative interpretations of the use of these buildings on the basis of landscape analyses. Driven by these approaches, geographic information systems (GIS) have led to novel approaches and questions about the landscape around the nuraghi themselves. Sensory analyses, in most cases visibility, have also found their way into Sardinian research, although this only partially represents the everyday interactions of the prehistoric population with the landscape. The aim of this study is, to combine the visibility with an acoustical analysis of the landscape surrounding the prehistoric Sardinian tower constructions. The study is conducted on the island of SantAntioco, located in the south-west of Sardinia. This functions as an ideal study area because it is a self-contained micro-region and the at least 29 nuraghi present on the island offer a promising basis for studying the landscape in prehistoric times. The paper deals with the perception of the landscape by the Bronze Age population and its possible interactions with the monuments. It employs a multifaceted approach, utilising prospection methods and personal sensory experience in the landscape with geographical information systems.