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Archaeology
- Prehistoric Monuments of Sardinia
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Hypogeic
Necropolis
Anghelu Ruju
Alghero (Sassari)
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Located
in the fertile plane which surrounds the natural port of Alghero,
the necropolis covers a low, calcareous sandstone hill and also
a level outcrop of sandstone The area in between is without tombs,
since the rock is too thin for their excavation.
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37 domus de janas type tombs have so far been discovered, as well
as a single ground tomb.
The
hypogei all have more than one cella (2-11), with shaft and corridor
entrances, and steps leading down. Although aligned in different
directions, the opening is always oriented downhill.
The single cells are sometimes curved, sometimes rectilinear,
sometimes irregular; the planimetric arrangement of the tombs
is various, asymmetric especially in the descending types, mainly
regular (with T shape or centipetal development) in the corridor
tombs.
In the corridor tombs, considered particularly advanced specimens,
one encounters a significant number of decorative features both
architectural and superstitious.
Excavations
have highlighted the presence of multiple graves, from two to
as many as thirty people, among which various remains of children
have been found. The burials included primary and secondary
inhumation and, more occasionally, cases of semicombustion.
Several domus were found to be still sealed on the outside with
slabs and/or piles of stones, sometimes containing stone insignias
and they preserve the remains of gifts and funeral meals eaten
in the larger cellae or near the entrance.
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DATING:
The majority of the complex goes back to the Culture of Ozieri
(Recent Neolithic, about 3300-2900BC), ceasing to be used at the
time of the culture of Bonnannaro (First Bronze Age, around 1800-1600BC).
Text
by Dr. Giovanni Idili translated into English by Laurence
Gambella 
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