The Sardinian people are one of the most (if not the most) interesting modern Mediterranean cultures regarding language, music, history, etc.
The island of Sardinia has been inhabited for millenia: in the Prehistory several civilisations coexisted on the island, notably, the Nuraghic culture built impressive stone constructions looking like towers, fortresses, tombs, etc. Later seafaring invaders from the East Mediterranean took over (the Hyksos), and Etruscans left their trace too. Finally it was conquered by the Roman empire, but the ruthlessness of its people was noted, and the central mountaineous area was known as Barbagia (the Barbarians land) and was never fully Latinised. A Pre-roman language influenced heavily the Latin language spoken on the island nowadays: Sardinian. It is one of the most conservative Romance dialects, but it also shows remnants of older linguistical layers. Its appartenance to the Crown of Aragon made them closer to Iberian tendencies too (even Catalan is spoken in the northeastern town of l’Alguer), for some centuries.
On the picture we can see traditional musicians dressed in the Sardinian fashion in the Sant’Efisio music parade in its capital of Cagliari/Casteddu. They’re playing launeddas (reed-like pipes) and flutes (sulittu or pipiolu).

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