Editing History of Sardinia (section)

===Nuragic period===
[[File:Nuraghe Losa.jpg|thumb|right|220px|[[Nuraghe Losa]]]]
{{Main|Nuragic civilization}}
[[Bronze Age Europe|Bronze Age]] Sardinia is characterised by stone structures called [[nuraghe]]s, of which there are more than 8,000. The most famous is the [[Su Nuraxi di Barumini|complex of Barumini]] in the [[province of Medio Campidano]]. The nuraghes were mainly built in the period from about 1800 to 1200 BC, though many were used until the Roman period. Characteristics of this period are also the [[Nuragic holy well|holy well temples]] (for example Santa Cristina, [[Paulilatino]]), the megara temples and the [[Giants' grave]]s.

The Nuragic Sards also produced a vast collection of [[Nuragic bronze statuettes|bronze statuettes]] and the so-called [[giants of Mont'e Prama]], which might constitute the first anthropomorphic statues of Europe.

It is known that the [[Sardinians]] had contact with the [[Mycenaean Greece|Myceneans]], who traded with the western Mediterranean. Contact with powerful cities of Crete, such as [[Kydonia]], is clear from pottery recovered in [[archaeological]] excavations in Sardinia.<ref>C. Michael Hogan, [http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/10881/cydonia.html#fieldnotes "Cydonia"], ''Modern Antiquarian'', 23 January 2008</ref> The alleged connection with the [[Sherden]], one of the sea peoples who invaded [[Egypt]] and other areas of eastern Mediterranean, has been supported by scholars like the professor Giovanni Ugas from the [[University of Cagliari]];<ref>[http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/sardi_%28Dizionario-di-Storia%29/ Sardi in ''Dizionario di Storia'' (2011), Treccani]</ref><ref>[http://www.sardiniapost.it/culture/nuovo-studio-dellarcheologo-ugas-e-certo-i-nuragici-erano-gli-shardana/ Nuovo studio dell’archeologo Ugas: "È certo, i nuragici erano gli Shardana"]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sardiniapoint.it/5085.html |title=''Shardana, sardi nuragici: erano lo stesso popolo?'', Interview with Giovanni Ugas (in Italian) |access-date=13 February 2017 |archive-date=5 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200405144452/http://www.sardiniapoint.it/5085.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> this hypothesis has been however opposed by other archaeologists and historians.<ref>Stephen L. Dyson and Robert J. Rowland, ''Archaeology And History in Sardinia From The Stone Age to the Middle Ages: Shepherds, Sailors, & Conquerors'' (UPenn Museum of Archaeology, 2007: {{ISBN|1-934536-02-4}}), p. 101 (with refs).</ref>

The name of the island could result from ''[[Sardus]]'' (known amongst the Romans as ''Sardus Pater''), a mythological hero of the Nuragic pantheon.