The Giants' grave of Su Mont'e s'Abe is an archaeological site located in the municipality of

Olbia Olbia (, ; sc, Terranoa; sdn, Tarranoa) is a city and commune of 60,346 inhabitants (May 2018) in the Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called ''Olbia'' in the Roman age ...

, in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

province of Sassari The province of Sassari ( it, provincia di Sassari, sc, provìntzia de Tàtari, sdc, prubìnzia di Sàssari, ca, província de Sàsser, french: province de Sassari, co, pruvincia di Sassari) is a province in the autonomous island region of Sa ...

. Like other giants' tombs of

Gallura Gallura ( sdn, Gaddura or ; sc, Caddura ) is a region in North-Eastern Sardinia, Italy. The name ''Gallùra'' is allegedly supposed to mean "stony area". Geography Gallùra has a surface of and it is situated between 40°55'20"64 latitude ...

, it was built in two main phases of construction. In the first stage, during the period of the

Bonnanaro culture The Bonnanaro culture is a protohistoric culture that flourished in Sardinia during the 2nd millennium BC (1800–1600 BC), considered to be the first stage of the Nuragic civilization. It takes its name from the comune of Bonnanaro in the provinc ...

, it was built an

allée couverte A gallery grave is a form of megalithic tomb built primarily during the Neolithic Age in Europe in which the main gallery of the tomb is entered without first passing through an antechamber or hallway. There are at least four major types of galle ...

tomb; later, in the second phase, during the age Nuragic age (1600 BC approximately), the allée couverte was transformed into a giants' tomb with the realization of the exedra and the erection of the central stele of which few traces remain today. The tomb, which measures about 28 meters in length and six in width, was excavated and restored in the 1960s.

Bibliography

Giovanni Lilliu Giovanni Lilliu (born in Barumini, Italy on 13 March 1914 – died in Cagliari, 19 February 2012), was a renowned archeologist, academician, publicist and politician and public figure and an expert of the Nuragic civilization. Largely due to his sci ...

: ''Sculture della Sardegna nuragica''. Edizioni La Zattera, Cagliari 1966. * Giovanni Lilliu: ''Betili e betilini nelle tombe di giganti della Sardegna''. Accademia nazionale dei Lincei, Roma 1995, , (''Atti della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Storiche e Filologiche: Memorie'' Ser. 9, Vol. 6, Fasc. 4). Buildings and structures in Sardinia Megalithic monuments in Italy Tourist attractions in Sardinia Archaeological sites in Sardinia {{Italy-stub