Domus de janas S'acqua salida

On the sun-scorched slopes of Sardinia, the necropolis of S’acqua salida offers a peculiar window into the island’s prehistoric imagination. This funerary area is split into two clusters of rock-cut tombs, set 150 metres apart, carved into sandstone outcrops either side of a country lane. The tombs belong to the domus de janas tradition, ‘houses of the fairies’ in local lore, a type of subterranean burial chamber hewn from living rock, common to the island’s Neolithic and Chalcolithic peoples.

Cluster A holds six tombs. One is particularly striking: a long entrance corridor leads to an antechamber, its doorway framed in red ochre, then to a main chamber and three side-cells. In another tomb, the rear wall bears painted red ochre motifs: two bull-like protomes in a T-shaped pattern, set within a painted rectangle. A third tomb mimics the wooden roof beams of a hut in low relief. Cluster B, with three burials, includes a tomb entered via a shaft with footholds, and another preserving a partial pillar within its chamber. A rock-cut hearth and twelve cup-marks complete the site.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.