A “rediscovered” menhir in Mid-Southern Sardinia (Italy)

The territory of Mid-Southern Sardinia – and in particular the »Sarcidano« area – is very rich in sites of preand proto-historic times. There are also many megalithic monuments dated to Late Neolithic and Copper Age (early IV – early II millennium BC), such as allées couvertes and menhirs and statues-menhirs. Among those, we report an interesting menhir located in the territory of Serri, called »Sa Porta«. The menhir was reported in the 1940s by the scholar Giovanni Lilliu, who – in a time when the megalithic phenomenon was not yet well known – wrongly dated it to the Roman period, as pertinent to the Roman town of Biora, localized nearby. In the following years, the traces of the menhir were lost, so the scholars and the locals believed that it was definitely lost or destroyed. The menhir has been »rediscovered « during recent research named the »Serri Survey Project« (University of Cagliari): thanks to the renovation of a country road, the menhir (which is on the edge of the road) was almost completely covered, by protecting it from removal or damages. This is a discovery of great importance, as it is expected that the menhir is still placed in its original position, which is quite an unusual event regarding Sardinian menhirs, which are often discovered collapsed or in secondary position. The menhir – in good storage conditions – is constituted by a monolith of schist well worked with hammer. It is 1.50 m tall and it has a sub-ogival profile. It is probably part of the class of »proto-anthropomorphic menhirs«. The »Sa Porta« menhir is well placed in the megalithic context of Mid-Southern Sardinia, and it has several comparisons with other menhirs in the surrounding area, above all those of the megalithic and hypogeic site of Pranu Mutteddu – Goni.