Necropolis of Pranu Mutteddu

Sardinia's highest menhir concentration (~60) and largest prehistoric site (200,000 sq m). Ozieri culture (3200-2800 BCE). Protoanthropomorphic stones representing ancestors. Excavations by Enrico Atzeni since 1980.

Around 3200-2800 BCE, the Ozieri culture—the most important civilization of the Sardinian Neolithic—created a sacred landscape near what is now Goni. They raised approximately sixty menhirs, protoanthropomorphic stones whose ogival forms suggested the human body. They built tombs in megalithic circles, stone cists, and carved chambers. The menhirs marked where ancestors lay—standing representations of the buried dead. One spectacular group of twenty menhirs indicates collective ritual; one stepped circular tomb of 14 meters demonstrates exceptional investment. The result was Sardinia's largest prehistoric sacred site: 200,000 square meters of ancestor veneration.