Samugheo is a town in the historical region of Barbagia del Mandrolisai.
A Maimone – Su Carrasegare Antigu Samughesu, a festival of traditional Sardinian masks has been held there since the 1990s.
Devised by the Mamutzones de Samugheo Cultural Association, it was established with a view to bringing together the most representative masks in the Sardinian carnival.
This carnival draws attention to the tradition of agriculture and sheep rearing and the ancient Dionysian cult featured in numerous traditional carnivals in Sardinia. It involves symbolic rituals linked to the cycle of nature, its death and rebirth each year and to the desire to ensure a good crop.
The main carnival masks include: su Mamutzone, s’Urtzu and s’Omadore. They make their first annual appearance on the Feast of Sant’Antonio, which is the beginning of the Carnival.
Su Mamutzone wears fustian clothes and goat skins onto which are tied brass or bronze campaneddas (cow bells) and trinitos (rattles); the head is covered by su casiddu, a cork container covered in goat’s wool with goat or bovine horns. Su Mamutzone hides its human appearances under a layer of burnt cork soot.
S’Urtzu, also known as s’Ocru, is the sacrificial victim and wears black billy goat skin including the head, while goat skins and cow bells are worn on the chest. A bladder full of blood and water is hidden under the clothing.
Lastly, s’Omadore, the shepherd, wears a long black coat with hood and his face is blackened with soot. He holds a sa soga, a rope, stick, chain and goad in his hand.
The celebration revolves around a disorderly and captivating dance in which the sos Mamutzones imitate fighting goats in love. S’Urtzu, the sacrificial victim of the event continues on clumsily and limping in an attempt to capture the women present and re-enact a mating scene; s’Omadore, his shepherd tries to guide him by striking and poking at the bladder whose content makes the land fertile. The ritual ends with the death and reincarnation of de s’Urtzu surrounded by sos Mamutzones and their headgear.
Other Samugheo carnival masks take part in the event like “Su carru de Minchilleo” and “Su Traga Corgios”, a mask which drags dry bovine skins as a prophesy of death. A Maimone is an opportunity for cultural exchange: groups of masks from the Italian peninsula and Europe take part in the event. Dancing is held in the square after the parade.
