Prominent among the cultural heritage of the University of Cagliari are two archaeological collections, indispensable tools for supplementary technical-educational laboratory activities aimed at the basic training and professional profile of future archaeologists.
The first, The Prehistoric Lithic Collections, established by Prof. Enrico Atzeni, includes objects from the prehistoric and protohistoric ages collected from the arable lands of the Campidanese plains. It is characterized by a wide assortment of weapons and artifacts made of chipped and polished stone, mostly obsidian and flint, and, by other objects made of hard rocks of the “greenstone” type, basalt, andesite, porphyrite, granite, etc. An additional batch of materials consists of ancient stone age tools, especially polyhedrons and bifaces of African and Mediterranean origin recovered occasionally from private collectors and national antique stores.
The second, the “Evan Gorga” Archaeological Collection has 146 vessels exemplifying much of the ceramic production of ancient Italy, from the mid-2nd millennium B.C. to the late 2nd century A.D. The vessels are part of a larger collection of about 40,000 artifacts established by opera singer Evangelista Gennaro Gorga (1865-1957), known for being the first performer of the character of Rodolfo in Puccini’s Bohéme at the Teatro Regio in Turin in 1896. The collection also includes some fakes, a usual fact in this type of collection. It was assigned to the University of Cagliari in 1954 by the then Ministry of Education.
In this edition of Open Monuments 2025, the two Collections will be on display in the new location on the second floor of the Exhibition Hall of the Museum Citadel.
