of huge stones.

It is thus clear that the _nuraghi_ were the fortified centres of the
various villages of Sardinia. Probably each formed the residence of the
local chieftain; that they were actually inhabited is clear from the
remains of everyday life found in them, and from the polish which
continual use has set on the side-walls of some of the staircases. In
general appearance and design the _nuraghi_ recall the modern _truddhi_,
hundreds of which dot the surface of Apulia and help to beguile the
tedium of the railway journey from Brindisi to Foggia. The _truddhi_,
however, are built in steps or terraces and have no upper chamber.

Who were the foes against whom such elaborate preparations for defence
were made? Two alternatives are possible. Either Sardinia was a
continual prey to some piratical Mediterranean people, or she was
divided against herself through the rivalry of the local chieftains.

The second explanation is perhaps the more probable. Mackenzie seems to
adopt it, and fancies that in the growth of the largest _nuraghi_ we may
trace the rise to power of some of these local dynasts at the expense of
their neighbours. He suggests that the existence of the fortified
enclosure of Nossiu, where there is no sign of a true _nuraghe_, may
mean that there were certain communities which succeeded in maintaining
their independence in the face of these powerful rulers. But here, as he
himself is the first to admit, we are in the realm of pure conjecture.

[Illustration: Fig. 18. Giant's Tomb at Muraguada, Sardinia. (Mackenzie,
_Papers of the British School of Rome_, V.)]

It is now established that in the Giants' Tombs of Sardinia we are to