Summary (English)
The pre-nuragic necropolis of Montalè is constituted by at least six rock-cut hypogea. Three were re-adapted as oil mills and their original plans are unrecognizable. Only a few traces of the fourth tomb were seen in the section of a modern quarry.
In hypogea V and VI, the only ones preserving the original structure, cleaning and survey were undertaken in 1983 and an archaeological investigation took place in 2001. Tomb V has been named the Tomba delle Protomi Taurine as the antechamber A presented six taurine protome with rectangular elongated heads and large crescent-shaped horns, plus a seventh of which only the horns remain.
At the centre of the antechamber was a dividing wall with a niche in its central part, suggesting that the tomb may have had a ritual space.
From the three doorways which opened in the front and the sides of antechamber A, access was gained to seven cells in a radial arrangement. The hypogeum had been emptied of the ancient depositions and only a few sporadic pottery fragments, including one decorated with the typical Monte Claro grooves, were found in the antechamber.Tomb VI presented an entry corridor, an antechamber, a chamber with pillar and two residual lateral cells, whilst a third had been destroyed by quarrying and only its doorway remained. The residual deposit produced a few fragments of Monte Claro pottery.
The architectural elements and the taurine protome recall similar examples in the necropolises of Monte d’Accoddi- Sassari and Anghelu Ruiu- Alghero and in Upper Neolithic contexts at Ozieri. The Monte Claro pottery attests the reuse of the Neolithic structures during the Copper Age.
- Alba Foschi Nieddu - Soprintendenza Beni Archeologici delle Province di Sassari e Nuoro 
- Isabelle Paschina 
- Paola Basoli  
Director
Team
- Società Archeologica Sassarese
- G. Fois
- G. Granara
- N. Lutzu
- C. Cubeddu
Research Body
- Soprintendenza Beni Archeologici delle Province di Sassari e Nuoro
Funding Body
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