The nuraghe Chessa is situated on the northern edge of the town of Birori, in the province of Nuoro. The site was documented for the first time in 1985, but never excavated and its interior is still filled by collapsed blocks.
The 1985 documentation, republished in 1998 and 2000, shows that the site was made up of a complex nuraghe, not better defined, surrounded by a defensive wall and the remains of a few other walls.
In 2008, a project to remove the vegetation and produce detailed graphic documentation was financed by Birori’s local administration.

The project, which lasted two months and was directed by Dr. Luisanna Usai of the Archaeological Superintendency for Sassari and Nuoro, revealed a settlement that is much larger than the area presently fenced and identified as a buffer zone to protect the monument.
In fact, the nuraghe has three towers, the third not previously seen as it is probably only preserved for the first few courses (perhaps only one). The central tower has an external diameter of 12.3 m and the other two of 7.90 m. The nuraghe is surrounded by a defensive wall with a tower (external diam. 7.10 m), which encloses the nuraghe on the east side for a length of 60 m. To the west, the village developed, of which three circular huts were documented. The settlement extended into the neighbouring lot where alignments of walls and other hut circles were identified.

The detailed recording of the exposed structures, the check on the nature and potential of the archaeological remains and extension of the area, together with the definition of the complex typology of the nuraghe, confirmed the site’s importance in the nuragic period, already suggested by its position within the territory, in relation to other contemporary nearby sites.