The secrets of Britain's connection with the world's least known ancient civilizations
How Bronze Age British industry contributed to Mediterranean civilization 33 centuries ago
David Keys
Archaeology Correspondent
Thursday 27 March 2025 13:48 GMT
New archaeological research is revealing that, more than a thousand years before Britain became part of the Roman Empire, it was part of an extraordinary Mediterranean-based trading network.
Investigations being carried out by archaeologists from five European countries suggest that around 3,300 years ago, the western Mediterranean island of Sardinia started to become a powerful trading centre, eventually linking Britain, Scandinavia, Spain and Portugal in the West to what are now Turkey, Syria, Israel, Cyprus and Crete in the east.
A series of ground-breaking discoveries are revealing, for the first time, the remarkable role played by the island - one of the world's least known ancient civilizations, known to archaeologists as the Nuragic culture.
And it is showing the remarkable way in which Britain seems to have contributed to that civilization's development.
It's long been known that Sardinia's Nuragic culture had Bronze Age Europe's most impressive architecture as well as equally remarkable art - but research over recent years has begun to reveal that it also became Europe's first Mediterranean-wide maritime and mercantile power.
More:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/sardinia-trade-britain-bronze-age-b2722627.html
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