Visit Necropolis of Sos Furrighesos, Anela, Sardinia, Italy

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The domus de janas of Sos Furrighesos is located in the province of Sassari, in the territory of Anela, about ten kilometres NE from the town of Nughedu San Nicolò, and is situated on the southern ridge of Pianu Oschiri, a volcanic plateau on the border between Goceano and Logudoro. It is a necropolis dug into the rock on the ridge of the volcanic plateau of Pianu Oschiri, which overlooks the Tuvu 'e carru river. Together with other pre-Nuragic archaeological areas, in 2025 the site was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The necropolis is made up of 18 domus de janas, excavated on three overlapping horizontal levels, to a maximum height of 3 m above ground level. Based on the materials found during the excavations, the burials have been dated to a period between the late Neolithic (San Michele culture, 3200-2800 BC) and the early Bronze Age (Bonnanaro culture, 1800-1600 BC). The tombs were accessible thanks to notches carved into the rocks, an accurate system of channels conveyed rainwater and infiltration water downwards and to the sides of the tomb doors, preserving decorations, bodies and funeral objects from humidity and decay. The entrances were closed with wooden or stone doors. Tomb IX, also called sa tumba de su re (the king's tomb), consists of a single cell. The entrance door is highlighted by a stele (4.05 m high, 4.02 m wide) sculpted in relief and divided by a horizontal strip shaped like a trapezium into two sections: the upper one is a lunette and the lower one is a trapezium . The band that surrounds the stele laterally and above has the same relief. The stele was sculpted in times following the excavation of the hypogeum (1600-1800 BC) during the Archaic Nuragic period. Above this architectural section, on a flat section there are three recesses that contain three small betylic pillars held in place by rock chips and oblong pebbles arranged in a knife-edge pattern. The cell has a rectangular plan (4.05 x 2.20 x 1.65 m), the ceiling and the walls are decorated with engravings. The latter were made using different techniques: hammered, linear, polissoir and dotted, from the Roman era or the early medieval period. The hammered engravings date back to different eras from the Abealzu-Filigosa culture to the Bronze Age.

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