For visitors who want to gain insight into the Phoenicians in Sardinia, the Monte Sirai Archaeological Park is the ideal site. A park of excellence, it includes an area in which more than 40 sites from various eras (from the 4th millennium B.C. onward) are concentrated, but with the most pronounced imprint left by the Phoenicians (from the mid-8th century B.C.) and then the Carthaginians, to whom we owe the present housing structure (3rd century B.C.). The recommended route begins with the upper settlement: the north gate, on the only fortified side, opens onto the square of Astarte’s temple; among the large arrays of side-by-side room dwellings, such as the “talcum skylight” house, a few courtyard houses stand out, including the “Fantar house”; more recent excavations (e.g., the “tuff” house) have revealed them as possible craft units as well. A sector reoccupied in late antiquity is observed to the south of the settlement. Outside, the extensive Phoenician necropolis with the incineration pits can be visited, as well as the various Punic-age burial areas, among which the necropolis of family tombs with underground chambers is of great attraction and suggestion. Finally, on the hill to the northwest we visit the tophet shrine, a space consecrated to sacred and funerary rites for the very young deceased.
