The Medieval village of Geridu is an abandoned settlement in northern Sardinia, Italy, between Sorso and Sennori. It is the only medieval site on the island where large-scale excavations have been conducted.

The site of the medieval village of Geridu was already inhabited before the Middle Ages, during Late Antiquity it was occupied by a farm or rural settlement linked to the exploitation of agricultural resources. The decline of Geridu's population began in the late 14th century, and according to historical sources, the village was abandoned in the early 15th century, sometime before 1427.

The site continues to be promoted by cultural organizations in Sardinia as a place of archaeological and historical interest.

Geridu is under protection of the Italian Ministry of Culture, which lists it among abandoned medieval heritage site.

Location

The medieval village of Geridu is located within the municipal territory of Sorso, northern Sardinia. The site is about 2 kilometers from the village of Sorso and 10 kilometers from the city of Sassari. The village is situated near the St.Andrew's "cave" and alongside Provincial Road 25, which connects the town of Sorso with nearby Sennori.

The village is located on a hill in the Nurra plain, from which it is possible to see the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Gulf of Asinara. The area of the plain is rural; in fact, there are no significant modern constructions. The soil is particularly fertile, supporting various crops, among which vineyards and olive groves are the most prominent.

Etymology The first mention of the name of the village appeared in the Condaghe di San Pietro di Silki (1122), here the form Gereti appeared, a term likely derived from the Latin word for "villa Gereti", a hypothesis that would explain the genitive ending. The first form was Geriti, it was considered the most correct spelling and it prevailed from 1287 and continued throughout the fourteenth century; despite this fact, several variants appeared in literature and written sources.

During the 14th century, in fact, the form Geriti began to alternate in Aragonese documents with other different forms such as:

Leriti Giriti Gireti Girate and more rarely:

Gerta Geritino: Latin translation of the Catalan Geritì The form Geredi appeared in 1426, due to the Sardinian linguistic phenomenon that transformed the intervocalic letter t into d. In 1629, the form Heredi appeared, this version seems to reflect the Castilian pronunciation.

From the 16th century, the variants Geridi and Geridu became widespread, and today the place name is attested as Geridu (in Sorso and Sassari) and Zeridu (in Sennori).

The name of the village has been distorted throughout time, due to bibilical influence, in particular the phonetic similarity between Geriti and Gerici have confused authors and copyist, which have led to mistakenly link the toponym to the biblical city Jericho.

The origin of this error can be traced to the frequent confusion, in medieval paleography, between the letters c and t. Non-Sardinian scribes, when transcribing, could have read Gerici instead of Geriti, this misunderstanding could have led to other confusion with other Sardinian villages, such as Gèsico (province of Cagliari) and Silìqua (province of Cagliari), attested in fourteenth-century sources with the forms Yelicho and Xilico.

History

Early occupation The site of Geridu was first inhabited in pre-medieval times, during the protohistoric and Roman periods. In Late Antiquity it housed a farm or rural settlement linked to the exploitation of the surrounding land. Current research has not yet pinpointed the exact date of the medieval settlement of Geridu, but some scholars suggest that a new village was founded around the year 1100 on top of an earlier Roman occupation. The Condaghe di San Pietro documents the existence of Geridu in entries dated 1112 and 1129.

Medieval foundation and regional context Geridu's population chose this site for several reasons: the hill offered fertile soil, abundant water resources, a mild climate and a strategic location close to both the coast and the city of Sassari. These conditions made Geridu an important reference point for rural communities in northern Sardinia throughout the Middle Ages. The village lay within the Curatoria of Romangia, an administrative district of the Judicate of Torres, together with nearby settlements such as Sorso, Sennori, Gennor, Taniga and Uruspe, which formed one of the most economically active areas of the Logudoro region.

Reliable written information is scarce before the late thirteenth century, but sources indicate that by this time Geridu had developed into a substantial rural centre. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries it was one of the most populous settlements in Romangia, reaching a peak of about 1,250 inhabitants around 1320.

Economy and trade During its peak, Geridu benefited from a flourishing agrarian economy based on cereal cultivation, vineyards, orchards, gardens and livestock farming on the surrounding pastures. Documentary and archaeological evidence point to close links with merchants from Pisa and Genoa, and to the presence of monastic communities active in the cultural and economic development of inland Logudoro.

Excavations conducted by University of Sassari's researchers have brought to light numerous coins and imported ceramics alongside local pottery, indicating that the inhabitants participated in wider Mediterranean trade networks and were able to acquire non-essential and prestige goods. Recent discoveries of Sicilian and Tunisian wares dated to the eleventh and twelfth centuries suggest that the area was already economically active before the high medieval peak, and that the standard of living in Geridu was comparable to that of urban mercantile communities such as Pisa and Genoa.

Political framework and fourteenth-century crises After the conquest of Sardinia by the Crown of Aragon (1323–1326), Geridu became involved in the changing balance of power between the municipality of Sassari, royal authority and local feudal lords. Although treaties initially stipulated that Sassari and its dependent villages could not be separated from the royal domain, Geridu was repeatedly granted as a fief to Catalan nobles in return for military and financial obligations, provoking protests and legal disputes from the city.

During the fourteenth century the village alternated between direct royal administration and private lordship, while the wider region was affected by conflicts involving Sassari, powerful noble families and the Judicate of Arborea, as well as anti-Aragonese revolts. These political tensions, together with heavier fiscal pressure, social conflict and episodes of violence, contributed to a gradual worsening of living conditions in the countryside. From the mid-fourteenth century onward, repeated crises, warfare and epidemic disease set the stage for the progressive depopulation and eventual abandonment of Geridu in the early fifteenth century (see Village abandonment below). +Geridu - Political and Institutional Framework (1323-1444)before 1323 - 1325Municipality of Sassari1324nominal Aragonese enfeoffment to Guillem Oulomar1325 -1334Fief of Thomas Ça-Costa1327 or 1328vicarius (?) Bernat Puculull1332maior de villa Barisone de Naviçan1333procurator Guillem de Solà1332 -1334vicarius Ramon Guerau1334Fief of Ramon Ça-Costa1334 - 1336Royal aragonese Curia1334, 29–1 December, 335, 31 Octobervicarius Vicent Perez1336 - 1337Ramon de Cadorna1337Fief of Guillem de Bellvis1337 - 1338Lope de Genestar1338Royal Aragonese Curia1339 - 1354Fief of Miquel Perez Çapata1342vicarius Eniego Eximenis d’Aheafter 1342vicarius Johan Perez de Vallcochan1349maior de villa Blasio Seche1345(?) - 1354vicarius Pere Eximenis de Lumbierra1355Royal Aragonese Curia - Castle of Sassari - village mayors at the Parliament of Cagliari1366 - 1388Judicate of Arborea1371nominal aragonese enfeoffment to March Castaner1391 - ...Fief of Galceran de Santacoloma1427 - 1434Royal Aragonese Curia - Sassari1434 - 1436Pietro Spano1436Pedro de Ferrera1436 - 1444Gonario GambellaBold numbers represent the various eras of governance over Geridu, including rule by the Municipality of Sassari, the Catalan-Aragonese feudal lords, the Royal Aragonese Court, and the Arborean judiciary. The remaining numbers correspond to vicars, procurators, mayors, and village chiefs.

Village abandonment

Archaeological, documentary and stratigraphic evidence indicate that the medieval village of Geridu was progressively abandoned between the second half of the fourteenth century and the early fifteenth century, during the Arborean occupation of Romangia (1366–1388).

Causes and dynamics of depopulation Scholars show that the abandonment was caused by the combination of several different factors:

Fiscal and economic difficulties: after the process of feudalization caused by the Catalan-Aragonese settlement, rural communities faced high taxes, subjected both to the fiscal pressure imposed by the Municipality of Sassari and to that of the Catalan authorities. Furthermore, loans were often given on harsh terms, this situation significantly increased debt and worsened the living condition of the population. Local conflicts and wars: Geridu was deeply affected by the conflict between Sassari, the Doria family, and the Giudicato of Arborea, followed by anti-Aragonese rebellions. Evidence of destruction show several military incursions and also wartime damage, some evidence are: ruined crops, loss of agricultural labour caused by forced recruitment, arrests and deportations. These pressure forced the inhabitants to abandon the village and to move to safer fortified centres like Sassari or Osilo. Episodes of Destruction and Spoliation: several structures show evidence of heavy destruction. Some buildings collapsed while others were set on fire. Plagues and epidemics: anthropological and paleopathological analyses found mass graves that can be attributed to epidemic diseases, such as great waves of the Black Death that struck the island in the 14th century. Because of these epidemics, the population of Geridu was reduced by half. Economic Crisis and Reduction in Coinage in Use: coins became less common after the first decades of Aragonese settlement. From the second half of the 14th century, coins were rarely found in archaeological contexts, this fact shows a gradual economic slowdown and a reduction in trade. The Process of Abandonment

The village's decline was a gradual process. Excavations and stratigraphic studies show phases of destruction, partial reuse and recovery of building materials. In that period, some houses were damaged by fire and later reoccupied, other buildings were dismantled and their stones, roof timbers and tiles were reused in the nearby settlements.

At the beginning of the 15th century Geridu no longer functioned as a permanent settlement. In fact, only a few rural churches remained in the village, for instance the churches of San Biagio and Sant'Andrea. The latter was still in use in the 16th century and then, in the mid-19th century it was demolished and the parish church of San Pantaleo in Sorso was built.

Site and archaeology

Background and Research Objectives Archaeological research on the medieval village of Geridu started in the mid-1990s and continued until the early 2000s, it was led by archaeologist Marco Milanese of the University of Sassari. This project aimed to study the history and structure of the archaeological site and to improve the understanding of abandoned settlements.

Studies were conducted by the Department of History of the University of Sassari; to complete the research, several disciplines from different university departments were involved, such as archaeology, history, botany and anthropology.

The investigations made it possible to:

assess the stratigraphic potential of the area