Who were the Giants

Archaeology narrates the story of Mont’e Prama and nuragic civilisation, without preconceptions, to join the present with the past unveiled by scientific research.
All the finds from the campaigns carried out so far suggest that the sculptures and necropolises of Mont’e Prama are the fruit of a cultural revolution that began in the last centuries of the bronze age and had its peak during the iron age (about 950-730 BC).

Experts are studying and debating the nature of the site and the significance of this impressive group of statues.
The figures, statues, models of nuraghes and betyls form a coherent whole, while varied as to size, style and workmanship.

Who were the artisans who created these works?
What was the relationship between the sculptures and the necropolis?

1

According to some scholars, the statues stood close to the necropolis and, together with the buried dead, represented the highest social class as to military valour (archers and warriors), in the religious sphere (boxers), and in politics (nuraghe models).

2

According to others, the statues represented their forebears, the mythical heroes of Nuragic legend, while the models of the nuraghes were a symbol of the identity and cohesion of the community and the betyls recalled the ancient sacred stones of the tombs of the builders of the nuraghes.

3

Yet another school of thought sees the statues as commemorating an important event in local Nuragic history.

Detail of the top part of the keep of a model of four-lobed nuraghe on show at the Giovanni Marongiu civic museum.

All agree that the statues had strong symbolic significance, aiming at sending a message of identity and control of the territory, both to the local communities, and to the foreign folk of eastern origin who in those years were coming from the sea.

The sculptures of Mont’e Prama expressed identity and belonging,
these values were especially significant at a time of change, marked by deep tensions and transformations.