The Madau necropolis is dated from the Recent Bronze Age (1350-1150 BC) to the Final Bronze Age (1150-850 BC); its architecture developed in several phases.

Tomb I is the oldest of the four main tombs.

Tombs II and III were rebuilt over earlier giants’ tombs, of which they preserve some elements.

The construction of Tomb IV has not been dated.

THE NECROPOLIS

The main core of Madau comprises four giants’ tombs.

TOMB I

Tomb I preserves a funerary chamber bordered by large granite slabs set vertically into the ground. Some slabs bear carvings with symbolic motifs such as spirals and cup marks, among which stands the “Stele of Madau”.

TOMB II

Tomb II is the most imposing of the site. In front of it opens a large exedra, the semicircular space for funerary ceremonies, with a bench for ritual offerings; a hearth is still clearly visible in the exedra.

At the centre of the exedra opens the entrance portal, topped by a lintel. Inside, the funerary chamber is 9 metres long with a trapezoidal plan.

Outside, the tomb is more than 22 metres long and covered by a tumulus, with a border of large slabs called crepidine. The outer covering is described as “a naveta” because it recalls the shape of a ship’s keel.

TOMB III

Tomb III was rebuilt on the remains of an earlier giants’ tomb. The tomb body is 11 metres long and the inner funerary chamber 7 metres. In front of the entrance, the stone arms of the large exedra enclose an almost circular space.

Inside, on the right wall and at the back of the chamber, a ledge was intended for grave goods. As in Tomb II, the top of the tomb body has a “naveta” structure.

TOMB IV

The fourth tomb has not yet been explored.

Nuragic pottery vessels, bronze bracelets, glass-paste beads for necklaces and trachyte betils, sacred stones with symbolic value, were found in the necropolis.

The exedras marked the spaces for funerary ceremonies, and the benches were used for offerings during the rites.

Between 1982 and 1984 Giovanni Lilliu conducted the excavations and restoration of the necropolis.

SardegnaCultura, “Fonni, Tombe di giganti di Madau”.

IDESE, “Tombe dei giganti Madau”.

SardegnaTurismo, “Necropoli di Madau”.

Nuragando, “Tombe dei giganti Madau, Fonni”.

Distretto Culturale del Nuorese, “Tombe di Giganti di Madau”.

The necropolis takes its name from the local toponym Madau, also referring to the river of the same name, Riu Madau in Sardinian.

The toponym may derive from the Sardinian madau or medau, “sheepfold” or “livestock enclosure”; this origin, however, has not been confirmed for the site.