Program > By author > Cicilloni Riccardo

During the Late Neolithic and Copper Age in Sardinia (Italy) two cultural phenomena of great importance develop simultaneously: hypogeism and megalithism. The relationship between these two phenomena has been the subject of international debate, even recently. The two cultural expressions, in fact, are both present in the prehistoric horizon of the Mediterranean, especially in the Iberian Peninsula but also in France. On the island of Sardinia, we record, in the same chronological phase, the presence of two kinds of graves: rock-cut tombs – called domus de janas (remarkably more common) – and dolmens. The two monuments are built and used by the same populations, often in the same areas, with cases of locational associations and forms of structural integration. What needs to be understood is why both burial types were used and why either monument was preferred in different instances. This contribute aims to make the point on the situation and to propose possible hypotheses in order to explain the phenomenon. It seems however preferable to view dolmens as ‘territorial markers', while domus de janas are more linked to villages and areas of resource exploitation.