Stonehenge? Not at all, it’s Pranu Mutteddu archaeological park!

Looking at the pictures above and below you would think of being in Stonehenge or in one of the megalithic monuments sites in France but, instead...surprise! We are in the South of Sardinia, near Cagliari, in the locality known as “Pranu Mutteddu” close to the small village of Goni.
The archaeological Megalithic Park of Pranu Mutteddu, is the place which can praises the highest concentration of menhirs of the whole island, more than 60 megaliths and, because of that, is one of the most representative sites of sardinian prehistory.
The area of the park covers 200 thousand square meters and praises the highest concentration of standing stones on the island and many different types of burials of the latest Neolithic.

The number of menhirs, about 60, are proto- anthropomorphic kind, distributed or arranged in long arrays individually or in groups, often located near tombs. The most important lineup is composed by 20 elements.

The tombs are mainly circle shaped made with a series of circles of stones stuck into the ground and with a sepolclare sub- rectangular shape cell at the center. Some of them are composed by circular room and a corridor made with stone rows ,embedded in the ground and topped by slabs, covered, a long time ago, by a ground mound.

The extreme accuracy and the monumental nature of some of the park tombs, brings to assume the use of the site for important sepulchral functions and religious rites and, perhaps a sacred temple for the worship of ancestors.

The archaeological park visitors, not so many yet, report the feeling of a particular atmosphere of calm and relaxation and the flowing of a positive energy, typical of all the places chosen by the ancients for their sacred settlements.

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