On the low tongue of the promontory called Spalmatore di Terra on the island of Tavolara, superficial ceramic findings have suggested the existence of a prehistoric settlement.

The subsequent excavation, conducted with the help of volunteers in the years 2011 and 2013, consisted of an initial exploratory campaign which nevertheless provided important innovations, not so much in terms of identification of structures (which are scarce and badly preserved), but in field of the ancient history of the Tyrrhenian Sea in the context of Mediterranean relationships.

The review of the excavation finds (2018) made it possible to identify a presence from the initial period of the Early Iron Age (10th-9th century BC) represented for the most part by materials produced in mainland Italy. The presence of ceramics produced in Sardinia is, on the contrary, limited (about 20%). Since these are materials of current use, including some fragments with decorations in the classic Villanovan style, and a majority of examples of coarse ware “olle”, the interpretation of the finds excludes that they are objects imported for commercial purposes: instead they are evidence of the presence of groups – and therefore crews of navigators – who had stopped on the island facing the coasts of Gallura.
The recognition of a continental origin (Etruscan-Villanovan) of the finds has been confirmed by archaeometric analyses.

The analysis of the important find still remains to be investigated (the methods and frequency of naval shipments from the coasts of Etruria; the products exchanged; the reciprocity of the voyages) but the existence of constructive links has already been ascertained, finally based on direct material sources, among the inhabitants of the Gallura coast, and of Sardinia in general, with the proto-Etruscans of Tarquini, Vulci and Vetulonia etc.

It should be remembered that a single but significant attestation of profound relationships between the inhabitants of Sardinia and those of the Italian peninsula in the initial period of the Early Iron Age has long been known through the presence of a Sardinian woman who lived for many years in the community of Vulci, where she was buried in a tomb that attests to her high rank (Tomba dei Bronzetti Sardi in the Ponte Rotto cemetery).