L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 10 L'Italo-Americano W h e n w e t h i n k o f I t a l i a n h i s t o r y , thoughts fly to Rome and the Renais- sance, certainly not to the v e r y e a r l y c e n t u r i e s – o r should we say, millennia – of Humankind's own exis- tence, prehistory. To put it very simply, we t e n d t o d r a w t h e l i n e between prehistory and his- tory with the discovery and u s e o f w r i t i n g , t h e f i r s t sign of Humanity's necessi- ty to put down ideas, rules, and thoughts. This, of course, doesn't mean that our most ancient ancestors didn't have a rich world of emotions, feelings, k n o w l e d g e , a n d s k i l l s t o share. In particular, their spirituality was deep and they already possessed rela- tively complex systems of b e l i e f s , w h i c h i n c l u d e d what they probably consid- ered – and, perhaps, we still do that today – the deepest and most cherished of all spiritual activities, the care for and cult of the dead. Indeed, research tends to place the meaning of men- hirs and dolmens, at least in part, in the realm of spir- ituality, even though things a r e m u c h m o r e c o m p l e x than that. "Hang on," I hear you say, "what do menhirs a n d d o l m e n s h a v e t o d o with Italy, aren't those more o f a n o r t h e r n E u r o p e a n thing?" Well, actually, no! Truth is that prehistoric civ- ilizations across the conti- nents used these simple but m a j e s t i c s t o n e c o n s t r u c - tions, which we can still see today, also in Italy. But what are they? Men- hirs are monuments associ- ated with the Neolithic and Bronze Age, formed by large s t o n e s s t a n d i n g u p r i g h t , often presenting incisions of faces, animals, weapons, o r o r n a m e n t a l p a t t e r n s . Menhirs, which are consid- e r e d m e g a l i t h i c w o r k s , remain in part mysterious b e c a u s e w e d o n ' t k n o w whether they had spiritual or social meaning, if they functioned as burials or as a sort of commemorative site to honor and describe spe- cific events. On the other hand, the m e a n i n g o f d o l m e n s i s clearer: we know they are single-chamber prehistori- cal tombs, formed by two vertical stones and an archi- trave. We know also that, in origin, they were covered by a m o u n d , w h i c h h a d t h e duty to protect and support them. Archaeologists and historians believe dolmens were common for millennia, likely from the 5th to the 3rd millennium BC. T h i n g s i s , w e u s u a l l y think about dolmens and menhirs as something typi- cal of northern European countries, perhaps influ- e n c e d b y t h e p o p u l a r i t y of Stonehenge, in the UK – w h i c h i s a c r o m l e c h , that is, a series of menhirs placed in a circle – but we can find them both in Italy, too. Menhirs are found across the country, from North – Alto-Adige, Lombardia, Lig- u r i a , P i e m o n t e , w h e r e 1 1 menhirs form a cromlech near Biella, and Tuscany – all the way to our South, in Puglia, Sicily, and Sardinia. I n P u g l i a , t h e r e a r e 7 9 menhirs around Martano, i n t h e p r o v i n c e o f L e c c e , where we find one of the largest in Italy, the menhir o f S a n t u T o t a r u ( 4 . 7 0 m e t e r s ) . T h e p r o v i n c e o f Lecce is, in fact, so rich in menhirs that almost every commune can count one on its territory. Famous is also t h e m o n a c o , a m e n h i r i n which many see the form of a m o n k : i f y o u w a n t t o check out yourself, it's in Modugno (Bari). Always in Puglia, we find one of the largest Italian dolmens, that of San Silve- stro, which dates back to the Bronze Age, some 3,500 years ago. Located in the M u r g i a a r e a o f t h e B a r i province, it lies among hun- d r e d s o f o l i v e a n d c a r o b trees and it is considered one of the largest and best- preserved examples of pas- sage graves in the country. Technically, passage graves are dolmens with a corridor o r a c a i r n l e a d i n g t o t h e central chamber (the dol- men proper). The dolmen of San Silvestro is one of many other passage graves in the region: it was discovered in 1 9 6 1 b y c h a n c e a n d t h e remains of 13 people, along w i t h t h e i r f u n e r a r y g a r - ments, were found in the burial chamber. With its 40 meters in diameters and 10 in height, the dolmen of San Silvestro is an impressive sight which, thanks to an accurate work of preserva- tion and securing, can today be visited fully. S a r d i n i a r e m a i n s t h e most famous place in Italy when it comes to prehistory, as it is home to the majes- tic nuraghi. However, these t o w e r - l i k e c o n s t r u c t i o n s which had, probably, a reli- gious and defensive role for the Sardinian people of their time, are not the only ves- tiges of the island's most distant past. There are some 7 4 0 m e n h i r s a c r o s s i t , among them, the menhir o f S a n t ' A n t o n i o , t h e tallest in the country, with its 5.75 meters. It is also worth mention- i n g t h e m e n h i r s f o u n d in Goni, within the Parco Archeologico di Pranu Muttedu – we're here in t h e s o u t h o f t h e i s l a n d . T h e r e , 6 0 m e g a l i t h s a r e gathered in groups or two or three or in lines to create, also thanks to their size - s o m e o f t h e m r e a c h 5 m e t e r s i n h e i g h t – a n imposing and breathtaking s i g h t . U n s u r p r i s i n g l y , Goni's menhirs are known a s S a r d i n i a ' s S t o n e - henge. And just like Stonehenge, these dolmens and menhirs keep an aura of mystique around, even if we know, in more or less detail, what they were used for. Yet, we w o n d e r a b o u t t h e p e o p l e who built them and those who, in the case of dolmens, were buried there; perhaps we think about the way they spent their days or about their emotions and feelings, their joys and fears, sur- prised to discover how simi- l a r t o u s t h e y , i n t h e i r essence, were. GIULIA FRANCESCHINI Nuraghi, dolmens and Menhirs in Sardinia (Photo: Malgorzata Kistryn/Dreamstime) A little-known part of Italian history: dolmens and menhirs ALL AROUND ITALY TRAVEL TIPS DESTINATIONS ACTIVITIES

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