Necropolis of Pranu Muttedu

The Necropolis of Pranu Muttedu is one of the most important funerary areas of pre-Nuragic Sardinia, located near the village of Goni in the province of South Sardinia. The name Pranu Muttedu translates to the plain of myrtles. Often referred to as the Sardinian Stonehenge, the archaeological park spans approximately 200,000 square meters on a plateau within a cork oak forest. The site is distinguished by having the second highest known concentration of menhirs in Sardinia, alongside megalithic tombs and a Domus de Janas surrounded by stone circles. In 2025, the necropolis was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list as part of the serial site "Funerary traditions in Prehistoric Sardinia, the Domus de Janas."

The site was discovered in 1975 and subsequently explored by archaeologist Enrico Atzeni between 1975 and 1984, with excavations continuing on several occasions since 1980. These investigations uncovered numerous funerary monuments and a large quantity of artifacts, revealing that the site was used by sedentary populations from the Late Neolithic period, specifically the Ozieri culture (dated approximately 3200 to 2800 BC), continuing into the early Copper Age. The archaeological findings have demonstrated the site's significance for understanding the transition and cultural practices of pre-Nuragic communities on the island.

The archaeological scope of Pranu Muttedu centers on its megalithic funerary architecture and ritual stone monuments. The site features about sixty menhirs, variously distributed individually, in pairs, in groups, or in alignments. The necropolis also contains multiple megalithic tombs, originally covered by tumuli and enclosed within concentric megalithic stone circles, as well as Domus de Janas hypogea. The artifacts recovered during excavations include ceramics, stone mace heads, flint daggers with long tangs and fine retouching linked to the Remedello culture, obsidian arrowheads, and silver beads and rings. The silver elements are among the oldest metal objects found in Sardinia.

Notable structures within the necropolis include an 18-monolith alignment in the western sector. Made of local sandstone and stretching 32 meters along an east-west axis, the menhirs vary in height from 0.50 to 2.70 meters and are spaced 0.50 to 2 meters apart. Most are aniconic, but at least three, including menhirs V, VII, and XII, are proto-anthropomorphic with ogival profiles and plano-convex sections. Tomb II is a monumental structure featuring a perfectly worked monolithic block with small fan-shaped chambers, surrounded by an annular peristalithe and an outer enclosure ringed by proto-anthropomorphic menhirs. Tomb V, preceded by a long dromos and surrounded by a peristalithe, yielded high-status grave goods including a decorated bowl, two high-quality flint daggers, flint blades, obsidian arrowheads, and two silver necklace elements. A group of three slender, column-like menhirs known as La Triade stands on Tomb IV.

The site is situated on a plateau in the Trexenta region, set within a cork oak forest on both sides of the road connecting Senorbi and Goni. The megalithic tombs are constructed with two or three concentric oval stone walls that retain an earthen and stone tumulus, which is sometimes stepped. Corridors integrated into the tumuli, such as those in Tombs III and V, are formed by rows of orthostats. Tomb III features a small elliptical stone enclosure measuring 7 by 6 meters, with a quadrangular central space and an east-facing entrance corridor 2.50 meters long and 1 meter wide, delimited by large upright slabs. Across the road from the main complex are additional earth graves covered by flat stone layers and marked by menhir groups, as well as less prominent Domus de Janas.

The Necropolis of Pranu Muttedu functions as an archaeological park open to the public. It is located near the small village of Goni in the metropolitan city of Cagliari, South Sardinia, Italy. The official website for the site is pranumuttedu.com. The site gained increased international recognition in 2025 when it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list alongside 26 other prehistoric Sardinian sites under the classification of Domus de Janas funerary traditions.