“That these referred to the funerary rites of which Aristotle preserved memory, Lamarmora had already thought. And the opinions that prevail today in the field of archaeology tend to the same conclusion. The relationships, especially topographical, in which the ‘tombs of the giants’ are located in relation to the nuraghi, denote a connection between the two types of monuments so intimate, that it leads to seeing in the ‘tomb of the giants’ the collective burial of that tribe which had the nuraghe as its center of dwelling and defense. Thus, the ‘tomb of the giants’ can indeed be said to be a family grave. It was therefore the tomb of the ancestors and heroes, a secular custody of the bones, a sacred dwelling of the spirits hovering like protective demons over the tribe, and in their favor exercising their power as liberators and healers of the possessed. The wide semicircle that precedes as a vestibule the actual tomb, and is a typical element of every ‘tomb of the giants’, was certainly the place where the faithful gathered mournfully, and where various ritual ceremonies took place, including that of incubation. Probably the ‘giants’ of popular legend still reflect a bit of the glory of the ancestral ‘heroes’. And another persistence of the ancient religious piety towards the dead can be found, perhaps, in the use of the funeral song that is still sung around the coffin today, for example in the town of Nuoro.”
(Raffaele Pettazzoni: “Primitive Religion in Sardinia” -1912- in the 1993 reprint by Delfino Editore)
The photos of the Tombe di Giganti of: Mura Cuada in Paulilatino, S’Ena ‘e Thomes in Dorgali, Aiodda in Nurallao, S’Arena Fennau in Urzulei, San Cosimo in Gonnosfanadiga and Osono in Triei, are respectively by: Giovanni Sotgiu, Romano Stangherlin, Alessandro Pilia, Cinzia Olias, Lucia Corda and Francesca Cossu.
