The Giants' Graves of Sardinia
Across Sardinia stand tombs so long and massive that local people believed they must be the graves of giants. Some say sleeping beside them brings visions.
What was reported
The tombe dei giganti, 'giants' graves', are Bronze Age tombs found across Sardinia, more than 300 of them. Each has a long burial chamber, up to 30 metres, and a curved stone front, often with a huge carved stone slab in the centre, about 4 metres tall, with a small doorway at its base.
Their size led local people to believe they held the bodies of giants. Ancient writers mentioned a custom of sleeping beside the tombs of 'heroes' in Sardinia to receive dreams or healing.
Explanations offered
The tombs were built by the Nuragic civilisation, between about 1800 and 1100 BC, as communal graves for many people. Their long shape may have helped people believe in giants. Excavations have found the bones of many people, all of normal size.
- When
- Built in the Bronze Age
- Where
- Coddu Vecchiu, Arzachena, Sardinia, Italy
- Witnesses
- Sardinian folklore and archaeologists
- Status
- Confirmed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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