Visit Dolmen of Sa Coveccada & Mehir sa Covacada, Mores, Sardinia, Italy

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The dolmen of Sa Covaccada or S'Accovaccada (from the Sardinian, "that which is covered") is an archaeological monument located on a large trachytic plateau in the Meilogu, a historical-geographical region of Sardinia, administratively belonging to the municipality of Mores from which it is approximately seven kilometres away. Together with other pre-Nuragic archaeological areas, in 2025 the site was included in the UNESCO World Heritage list. Both for its considerable size and because it was considered an important element in the evolution of prehistoric Sardinian burial architecture, the dolmen of Sa Covaccada is considered one of the most important in the world. Outside the island, comparisons can be found with the dolmens of the Ala Safat necropolis in the West Bank and with that of Coste-Rouge, in the Hérault region of France. Made of gray-pink tuff trachyte, the monument has a rectangular plan measuring 5 x 2.20 m and is composed of three large, squared, orthostatic slabs , placed vertically in special housing channels pre-drilled into the rocky ground before installation. Resting on top, at a height of 2.10 m, a fourth slab measuring 6 x 3 x 0.60 m, weighing approximately 18 tons, serves as a covering. The rear wall of the dolmen and its covering, which must have weighed approximately 27 tons, have been lost. Access to the dolmen was provided by a rather small opening (0.50 x 0.50), carved into the front slab, but adequate for introducing the deceased into the burial chamber. The internal space, measuring 4.18 by 1.14 meters, served as a collective tomb, and the corpses were placed inside only after a process of stripping them of their flesh. To the left of the opening, inside the space, a niche carved into the wall appears to have served for the deposition of grave goods and offerings. In the absence of stratigraphic deposits, therefore on the basis of typological comparisons and the few ceramic finds discovered, it is believed that the monument can be ascribed to the Ozieri culture of the recent Neolithic (3500 - 2900 BC). The dolmen was in fact built in the period which saw the gradual overcoming of the domus de janas , hypogeal tombs, in favour of subaerial constructions such as the dolmen and the similar allée couvertes . A further evolution of the sepulchral architecture, in particular the addition of the anterior stele and the exedra, led to the typology used in the giants' tombs. About a hundred meters from the dolmen is a menhir , lying on the ground and broken into several sections. Also made of local stone, namely tuffaceous trachyte, it was carefully crafted using the "a martellina" method. It has a rectangular section measuring 125 by 86 cm and originally stood 2.40 m high.

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