Dolmens and Menhirs in Sardinia

The Dolmens are megalithic constructions, built in ancient times and used as a collective burials. Sardinia praises numerous tombs of dolmen type, especially prevalent in the northern half of the island.

These buildings were built with slabs knocked in into the ground and topped with huge stone slabs as cover. Usually pile of ground and stones was thrown covering them completely. They were often made with a precise astronomical orientation and bounded by stone circles highlighting the sacredness of these places used to practice religious function .

Among the Dolmen “Sa Coveccada”(Sassari), is one of the most important megalithic constructions of this kind in the whole Mediterranean area, with enviable height of about 2.70 meters.

The menhirs spread across Europe, and not only from the Neolithic period, are instead elongated large monoliths stuck vertically in the ground and often arranged in long lineups or distributed in individual elements.
In the Sardinian language are commonly called " perdas litteradas" (lettered stones) with a probable reference to the engravings that many of these monuments have, as in the case of the menhirs of Laconi.
Their function is not entirely clear, often located by the graves as probable religious symbols arranged in isolated places, perhaps used as a guidance system .

The archaeological area of “Pranu Muttedu”, in Goni town area about thirty minutes from Cagliari, belongs the highest concentration of menhirs with about 60 monoliths variously distributed in an area of about 200 thousand square meter