The Elephant's Rock is a large boulder of

trachyte Trachyte () is an extrusive igneous rock composed mostly of alkali feldspar. It is usually light-colored and aphanitic (fine-grained), with minor amounts of mafic minerals, and is formed by the rapid cooling of lava enriched with silica and al ...

and

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomi ...

, eroded by the atmospheric agents that gave it the shape of an

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

. It is about 4 meters high. The rock is located near

Castelsardo Castelsardo ( sdc, Castheddu; sc, Casteddu Sardu) is a town and ''comune'' in Sardinia, Italy, located in the northwest of the island within the Province of Sassari, at the east end of the Gulf of Asinara. History Archaeological excavations have ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

, to the left of the old road that led from the hamlet of Multeddu to the village of

Sedini Sedini ( sdc, Séddini) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sassari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about northeast of Sassari. It is part of the Anglona traditional subregion. Sedini borders th ...

. The Elephant's Rock has a great archaeological importance, because two domus de janas, ancient tombs dating back to the pre-nuragic period, have been carved inside. File:Castelsardo - Roccia dell'Elefante (01).jpg, alt=The Elephant's Rock, near the road, Landscape File:Castelsardo - Roccia dell'Elefante (08).jpg, alt=Taurine engraving in the domus de janas, Taurine engraving File:Castelsardo - Roccia dell'Elefante (06).jpg, alt=Domus de janas, Domus de janas File:Castelsardo - Roccia dell'Elefante (04).jpg, alt=View of the other side of the rocks, View of the other side

References

Archaeological sites in Sardinia {{Sardinia-geo-stub