Thank you for posting this. I visited this site several years ago and walked all the way out to the end of the point you see in the picture. During Roman times this was still a busy port — ships could be docked on both sides of the peninsula.
I was there on a weekday afternoon and had the entire site to myself. Absolutely beautiful. There are also some good pictures of the site here:
http://www.360sardinia.net/itineries.php?tour=25
With a dramatic coastal location Tharros is an extensive Roman site. In fact the origins of the city are earlier, initially nuraghic and then Carthaginian. When Rome defeated Carthage in the first Punic war in 238BC and took control of Sardinia it continued as an important naval town and much of what you can see (or imagine) today dates from the 2nd and 3rd century. In the following centuries raids by vandals and muslim from Africa made the location unattactive and in the 11th century it was decided to move inland to the safer location at present day Oristano. Unfortunately much of the materials for the new city were stripped from Tharros.
islam=destruction...