Giants' grave

Giants' tomb (Italian:

megalithic gallery grave built during the Bronze Age by the Nuragic civilization. They were collective tombs and can be found throughout Sardinia, with 800 being discovered there.^[1]

A stone cairn lies over the burial chambers, with some examples having a cup-shaped entrance similar to the court cairn tombs of Ireland.

Types

Coddu Vecchju - Arzachena

There are two general types of giants' tomb. In the so-called "slab type", uncut slabs are buried on end in the ground, and are arranged side-by-side. There is usually a central stele, which is the largest slab (up to 4 m in height) and has a doorway cut through it.
In the more primitive slab-type giants tombs, the central slab is unmodified aside from the entrance that is cut through it at the base, or else there is a crude dolmen-like arrangement of 3 uncut rocks to form the entrance (Osono, Sortali, Lolghi, Pescaredda). In more advanced slab-type giants tombs, the central slab is modified so as to be rounded on top, and has a simple design carved into the front surface (Dorgali, Goronna, Santu Bainzu, Coddu Vecchju).

Graphic reconstruction

The
sepulchres have a characteristic rectangular plan with an apse. The burial chamber is usually 5 to 15 metres long and 1 to 2 metres high. The structures were originally covered by a mound resembling the shape of an overturned ship. Near the entrance an obelisk (betile in Sardinian
) is usually found, which symbolizes the gods or ancestors who watched over the dead.
The so-called "block type" tombs are made of rectangular-cut blocks (Bidistili, Madau II, Seleni II, Iloi, Mura Cuata).
There are also structures similar to the block-type giants tombs on the island of Malta, in the United Kingdom^[2] and in Menorca (naveta).^[3]

Geographical distribution of the Giant tombs in Sardinia

List of major tombs

Su Mont'e s'Abe, near Olbia

Sa Dom'è s'Orcu, near Quartucciu

Two 18th-century BC tombs near Lanusei

Aiodda, near Nurallao

Coddu Vecchiu and Li Lolghi, Arzachena

Sa Dom'è s'Orcu, Siddi

Imbertighe, Borore

Madau, Fonni

Muraguada, Bauladu

Osono, near Triei

Tomb of San Cosimo, near Gonnosfanadiga

S'Ena'e Thomes, Dorgali

Bainzu, Borore

Sa Farch'e S'Artare, Seneghe

See also

Nuraghe

Naveta

Image gallery

Giant's grave of S'Arena, Urzulei

Giant's grave of Pascaredda, Calangianus

Giant's grave of Is Concias, Quartucciu

Giant's grave of Li Lolghi, Arzachena

Giant's grave of Madau, Fonni

Giant's grave of Barrancu Mannu, Santadi

Giant's grave of Lu Brandali, Santa Teresa Gallura

Iloi

Iloi 2

Giant's grave of San Cosimo, Gonnosfanadiga

References

^ Aspetti e problematiche del rituale funarario di età nuragica

^ Giant's Graves

^ Giovanni Lilliu, La civiltà nuragica, Sassari 1982 p.54

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Giants graves.

Giants' Tomb in Sardinian archaeology (in Italian)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Giants%27_grave&oldid=1183119505"

[Atzeni.I-1] Aspetti e problematiche del rituale funarario di età nuragica

[2] Giant's Graves

[3] Giovanni Lilliu, La civiltà nuragica, Sassari 1982 p.54

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[2]

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