Bernard Joseph Esposo Guerrero

The Philippines - 13-Oct-24 -

There seems to be an issue in the use of Domus de Janas in this nomination as some components are strictly not rock-hewn tombs. What Italy seems to be gunning for in this nomination is to represent a larger picture of pre-Nuragic cultures of Sardegna, which includes a natural cave considered as "The Cradle of Sardinian Man", structural constructions like altars and dolmens, and even stone tool workshops. If anything, the Domus de Janas are only the most representative monuments from a vast period before the Nuraghes started appearing on the island. I managed to see the Necropoli a Domus de Janas di Brodu (ca. 3,200BC) in Oniferi. My friend and I drove from Barumini heading for Orgosolo, and the entrance to the necropolis was conveniently situated a few kilometers from the highway. I purposely chose to see this necropolis as it has been described as a site where artistic carvings can be seen blending with functional architectural features. In this case, the symbolic ox horns were decoratively placed above the doors, thus the doors became representations of the ox's head. The fusion of these two elements is considered as an artistic milestone, and is referred to in the draft dossier as Transitional Type XIX.

In visiting the site, we had to open three farm gates (these are private properties, but being with a charming local eased things out so we never had any problem with the cork farmers and shepherds we encountered), and walked some 20 minutes to the rocky slope of a hill that is capped by the largely unexcavated Nuraghe Brodu. Signages are scant and confusing so we had a little bit of detours and tracking to do. Several reviewers on Google Maps never even managed to find their way to the necropolis and even described the site as "dangerous" because of the dogs and unfriendly land owners. The close proximity of several multi-chambered Domus de Janas and a Nuraghe with one another is something that appealed to me very much as it only demonstrates the site's continuity of use in ancient times. My friend and I were the only ones on site, so we got to fully explore the necropolis undisturbed -- I can only see this as the reward for braving to go to a place that we may not have been really permitted to go to to begin with!

Despite being in a very poor state, the single-chambered Tomb I is supported by at least one recognizable pilar and has a "cup" dug into the floor in front of the portal. Tomb II, on the other hand, features what looks like collapsed antechamber and an intact raised main chamber containing one false door beside a portal that leads to what is now another collapsed chamber. Tombs III and IV are the best preserved and each of them sports stylized three and four rectilinear bovine horn carvings, respectively, inserted into each other. The two also have traces of red paints. Tomb III's antechamber features the iconic carvings and a small chamber (could just be a deep niche). There are three linear chambers further inside, which are inaccessible but visible -- the portal to the second chamber has an architrave. The main Tomb IV has an undecorated antechamber leading to five chambers. The first contains the carvings that harmoniously merge with the architrave of the door. There are shallow niches as well that might have been used for ceremonies and offerings. In the second larger chamber, there are two openings to two raised chambers, with one of them leading further to the fifth and last one. Each of the tombs has its own rock-cut dromos or vestibules, the longest is at four meters. No information board is available, so I'm largely describing the necropolis from my own observations. It can be the case that there are more details that I have missed here such as what looked like intentional incisions on the ceilings and the cut-rocks outside. Fortunately, this necropolis has never been vandalized (not really surprised with the access issue), and one can witness a beautiful sunset as we had on top of the hill. 

The day after, we went to Oliena to do some hike in Tiscali. Little did I know that we would encounter there the Sanctuary of Sa Sedda ’e Sos Carros, which also appears on the Tentative List as part of the "Nuragic Monuments of Sardegna" (I fully support this extension as it is well argued for, and this deserves a separate review here). To my surprise, two weeks after our visit, I came to realize furthermore that Corbeddu Cave nearby is also listed as a component of the "Art and Architecture in the Prehistory of Sardinia. The Domus de Janas." We visited the three-chambered cave for its archaeological and historical merits, being a productive site in retrieving extinct endemic animal bones, some of which still lie in situ, and pre-Neolithic human remains. It also became the hideaway of the notorious bandit Giovanni Corbeddu Salis who even left his only purported signature carved on the wall. As to why it is tagged as a Domus de Janas is a big question for me. Within the idyllic Valle di Lainattu, there is another massive natural cave which we also both enjoyed, the ruins of one Tumba de Gigantis, and other remains of Nuragic monuments. As this serial property is queued for nomination and hopeful inscription next year, our guide to Corbeddu Cave shared with us that a technical team from UNESCO, probably fellow ICOMOS members, visited the cave for assessment just a week before. They required the drawing of a stronger comprehensive management plan (CMP) from Coop Corrasi, the managing unit for the archaeological and natural sites within the valley, but the team appeared to have been optimistic. 

A name change is definitely needed to better reflect what the final nomination will be about, but there should be no doubt of its importance, as well as the clear necessity to have it inscribed even under Crit. III alone. A news update, however, did mention of a trimming down of the 35 components to a mere 26. Could this, perhaps, mean that they will only focus on the actual Domus de Janas sites? (Photos: Carved portal of Tomb IV, Tombs III and IV, and an excavation site in Corbeddu Cave)

Tony0001

14-Feb-24 -

Yesterday and today I visited some sites of the "domus de Janas" sites.

1) Anghelu Ruju near Alghero. This site is rather big with some 40 graves. There is entrance fee, and good explanation. 

2) Su Crucifissu Mannu near Porto Torres. This site is near a farm. You can free visit. No entrance fee, no explanation. Not so many graves.

3) Altar of Monte d' Accoddi between Porto Torres and Sassari. This one is not similar at all to the other ones, but in my opinion most interesting site from the ones I saw. It is build in third millennium before Christ. 

4) Sennori: near the buildings of the commune; you need to get the key there and return to the same place.  

5) Su Murrone in Chiaramonte: in the middle of the fields, no entrance fee, no explanation. Not so many graves.

6) Elefant Domus de Janus in Castel Sordo: one or two domus de janas. Most interesting about this one is the shape of the rock. I think 99 % from the visitors comes for the shape and not for the grave.

7) Necropolis of Montalè in Sassari: not worth the detour. Behind a fence and very small (i think just one).

Conclusion: i am charmed by some of the parts of this "domus de janas"; for me definitely a yes; I would only keep 1) and 3) from this ones.

Daniel C-Hazard

Germany - 28-Apr-21 -

Sardinia boasts arguably the best beaches in Europe as well as countless prehistoric and protohistoric archaeological sites. This TWHS is only about necropoles though, not less than 35 in the description (out of more than 10,000 on Sardinia), and most of them situated in the northwest of the island. As I have not been to that part of the island yet, I have only seen two of the tentative sites: Li Muri near Arzachena and the mysterious Tomba del Labirinto. Both are unique and worth the visit, and the latter could definitely use a protection concept.

Li Muri is situated in the northeast, not far from the famous Costa Smeralda, in a geographic cluster with other interesting megalithic/nuraghic sites. It consists of a series of four concentric funerary circles with vertically placed stones, a central sepulchral compartment and menhirs in the outer circle. It forms part of the Arzachena Archaeological Park along with other interesting sites but the distances between them are a bit too long to walk (and walking along the road certainly is not enjoyable). From the closest to the farthest from Li Muri, the other sites of the archaeological park are: Li Lolghi and Coddu Vecchiu (giants' tombs), La Prisgiona (nuraghe) and Albucciu (protonuraghe). All are worth to visit when in the area.

Tomba del Labirinto (also known as Luzzanas rock tomb) was an adventure to visit more than a decade ago (and probably still is today). At 40°26'11.98"N 9°7'30.87"E, it is situated in the middle of Macchia close to Terme Aurora (the closest municipality is Benetutti). It is next to a creek bed and gets flooded occasionally. Most famous for its incised labyrinth (photo) and of a remarkable form, the tomb was in an unprotected but relatively well-preserved state when I visited. I have seen a big hornet/wasp nest on the ceiling, luckily abandoned, and I have read that bats also live here. For these reasons alone, visitors should be very cautious and considerate (if access is not regulated anyway these days). Back then, I did not want to crawl deeper into this cave-like tomb. All in all, really interesting and worth protecting! Not far (by car), close to Orune, is Sardinia's best preserved fountain sanctuary Su Tempiesu, also very unique and in a nice leafy setting.

I can highly recommend to visit some of the (inland) prenuraghic and nuraghic sites when visiting Sardinia, including but not only the WHS Su Nuraxi di Barumini. The "Domus de Janas" cluster of necropoles, connected to the older Ozieri culture (ca. 3000 BC), would be a worthwhile addition to the World Heritage List and is to be seen separately from the Nuraghic culture.

Matejicek

Czechia - 17-Apr-21 -

This is quite interesting serial nomination of 35 pre-historic, pre-Nuraghic sites of Sardinia. Nevertheless, I was thinking intensively how to evaluate it in comparison to other archeological sites in Europe. The killing feature is enormous number of sites and rather scientific description/justification provided by the state party of Italy: They are praising unique combination of hypogeism and megalithism typical for these structures dating to 5th-3rd Millennium BC. Well, maybe yes... However, I like and support megalithic TWHS sites like Carnac in Bretagne, Ceide Fildes and future-TWHSs around Sligo in Ireland. Thus, why not Domus de Janas of Sardinia? This is the reason I change my initial thumb-down to -up for this TWHS, but we will see...

I visited Sardinia in September/October 2017, and I enjoyed my stay very much. From the point of view of UNESCO material, Sardinia is a poor sister of Italian mainland. Besides already inscribed Nuraghe (only one site in this WHS, what about extended by other hundreds of Nuraghic sites...???), I can see a potential only in natural coastal reserves (La Maddalena Archipelago) and these pre-Nuraghic sites that are obviously much older than Nuraghes...

I visited only one site from this nomination: the component No.33 Pranu Mutteddu near Goni village, and it happened by coincidence, I would say. During my Sardinia vacations we explored almost all Eastern cost of the island.

Thus, we passed by the component No.31 "Corbeddu Cave in Oliena" without visiting the site. We could see the mountain range, where this component is located from the village of Orgosolo (famous for its murals), and also from other side overlooking impressive Gorropu gorge.

We spent a few days also in the campsite Torre Salinas and decided to explore hilly landscape around. I noticed in the map that the village of Goni is marked as worth-visiting place. OK, why not? Goni is small rather unassuming place. Only interesting sites are small Nuraghe sitting on the hill above the village and nearby archeological park Pranu Mutteddu. First, we climbed the hill with the Nuraghe Goni (not included to TWHS) that was a nice stroll with beautiful views...

After that we headed to Pranu Mutteddu, which is located not far from the village by the local road. We were the only visitors in early October. The site-keeper was very kind but did not speak English too much. With the English site description in my hand, I enter the site by myself. My friends refused, and stay at the reception and practiced their Italian language by conversation with the site-keeper. The archeo-site looked like a park with green oaks. It was full of pre-histroric monuments like menhirs, dolmens, circles, gallery graves (allée couvertes), and also Domus de Janas (House of the Witches), which is a kind of chamber tomb typical for Sardinia. However, no decoration survived at this site, and Domus de Janas was opened structure without ceiling after excavations. As I understood what the site-keeper said, Pranu Mutteddu is one of the most important archeological sites of Sardinia, sometimes called as Stonehenge of Sardinia, and I was impressed by his enthusiasm. Pranu Mutteddu is kind of unique, because it combines almost all the megalithic and hypogeic features together on one site. Well, I visited only this site from 35 nominated, but this should be a fine and representative example.

He recommended to us visiting of nearby Nuraghe Arrubiu (not included to the nomination, it belongs to younger Nuraghic period), and we did two days later. Arrubiu is more monumental than Nuraghe Goni and maybe even than Pranu Mutteddu, and with more interesting surroundings. But it was clear to me for now and forever that Nuraghes and Domus de Janas are two completely different structures from completely different periods...

PHOTO: Fortunately, I found my photos from Pranu Mutteddu very recently. Here is the excavated entrance to the biggest tomb.

To sum up: I am still not decided if Pranu Muttedu or even all 35 sites (encompassing all features of pre-Nuraghic period - civil, funerary, and religious) would deserve the WHS status. Pranu Mutteddu is certainly an interesting site and worth-visiting when you are in this part of Sardinia. Next time, I am not against visiting also other sites of this nomination (for example "Archaeological complex with the Altar of Monte d’Accoddi in Sassari" looks extremely interesting to me on photographs). Unfortunately, all these archeological sites, and there are really numerous similar ones in Mediterranean and Northern Europe, are fully enjoyable only for educated scholars and experts. However, these sites including Pranu Mutteddu have their own specific charm that is attractive also for total laymen like me.