We allow ourselves one of our infrequent forays outside the timeframe explored in our journey. The necropolis of Anghelu Ruju does not in fact belong to the nuraghic world, but it pre-dates it. It is one of the largest burial sites in Sardinia, certainly the largest in northern Sardinia.
It consists of 38 chamber tombs, known as ‘domus de janas’ (‘houses of the fairies’ in the Sardinian language) cut into sandstone rock. The tombs are grouped in two sectors, one consisting of 7 and the other of 31 tombs. Their layout is varied. One of the tombs is single chamber; all the others have a multi-chamber layout, reaching as many as 11 chambers. Access to the tombs is either by a vertical shaft or through a corridor. The walls have cup marks, rock-cut architectural elements and bull symbols which accompanied the last journey of the deceased.
The dead were mostly simply placed in the burial chambers, but there is also some evidence of semi-cremation, which is infrequent in prehistoric Sardinia, and one interred grave. The necropolis dates from the Late Neolithic (3200 – 2800 BC) to the Copper and Bronze Ages (2800 – 1600 BC).