Giants' grave

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sa Ena 'e Thomes Giants' grave in Dorgali.

Interior of the sa Ena 'e Thomes tomb.

Giants' grave (Italian: Tomba dei giganti, Sardinian: Tumbas de sos gigantes) is the name given by local people and archaeologists to a type of Sardinian megalithic gallery grave built during the Bronze Age. They can be found in the whole Sardinia, and so far 321 are known.

A stone cairn lies over the burial chamber itself. Some examples have a cup-shaped entrance similar to the Court Cairn tombs of Ireland.

Tomb of the Giant in Lanusei.

There are 2 general types of giant's tomb.

In the so-called "slab type", uncut slabs are buried on end in the ground, and are arranged side-by-side. There is usually a central stele, which is the largest (up to 4 m in height), and has a doorway cut through it. The sepulchres has a characteristic rectangular plan with apse. The burial chamber is usually 5 to 15 meters long and 1 to 2 meters high. The structures were originally covered by a mound resembling the shape of a turned down ship. Nearby the entrance was an obelisk (betile in Sardinian), which would symbolize the gods or the ancestors who watched over the dead.

In the more primitive slab-type giant's tombs, the central slab is unmodified aside from the entrance that is cut through it at the base, or else there is a crude dolmen-like arrangement of 3 uncut rocks to form the entrance (Osono, Sortali, Lolghi, Pescaredda). In more advanced slab-type giant's tombs, the central slab is modified so as to be rounded on top, and have a simple design carved into the front surface (Dorgali, Goronna, Santu Bainzu, Coddu Vecchju).

The so-called "block type" is made of rectangular-cut blocks (Bidistili, Madau II, Seleni II, Iloi, Mura Cuata).

There is also a structure similar to a block-type giant's tomb on the island of Malta.