The Necropolis of Li Muri is an archaeological site located in the municipality of

Arzachena Arzachena (; sdn, Alzachèna; sc, Altzaghèna) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Sassari, northern Sardinia, the second largest island off the coast of Italy. Arzachena lies half way between the original Costa Smeralda resort and Port ...

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 ...

. The necropolis, thought to be a product of the

Arzachena culture The Arzachena culture was a pre-Nuragic culture of the Late Neolithic Age occupying Gallura (the northeastern part of Sardinia) and part of southern Corsica from approximately the 4th to the 3rd millennium BC. It takes its name from the Sardin ...

and dating from the second half of the fourth millennium BC, is composed of five stone

cists A cist ( or ; also kist ; from grc-gre, κίστη, Middle Welsh ''Kist'' or Germanic ''Kiste'') is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle Eas ...

. Four of the cists are surrounded by stone circles that originally marked the limits of the mound of earth and rubble that was erected over the burial. Bodies were interred inside the cists, probably individually (unlike in the rest of Sardinia where the graves were usually collective). The dead were accompanied by

grave good Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods may be classed as a ...

s including pottery, stone vessels, hatchets and beads necklace of

steatite Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the ...

and

gemstones A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, ...

. The architecture of the necropolis shows strong similarities with contemporary sites of Corsica,

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

and the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

. The necropolis forms part of the Arzachena Archaeological Park along with two other antiquities: the

Nuraghe The nuraghe (, ; plural: Logudorese Sardinian , Campidanese Sardinian , Italian ), or also nurhag in English, is the main type of ancient megalithic edifice found in Sardinia, developed during the Nuragic Age between 1900 and 730 B.C. ...

Albucciu and the Giants' grave of Coddu Vecchiu.

References

Bibliography

* Paola Mancini, Gallura preistorica, 2011.

External links

* *
Sardegna Cultura, Arzachena, Circoli di Li Muri
(in Italian)

(in Italian) Archaeological sites in Sardinia {{Italy-archaeology-stub