Mauro Perra, archaeologist at the Villanovaforru Museum, said that the finding could be “as important as the Mount Prama statues”.

 

The broken standing stones date back to the Chalcolithic period around 3000 BCE, and were probably broken up about 70 years ago, when the wall was built.

 

Archaeologists began research in the area in the 1990s, when they excavated near a tomb at Paule Lutturi; then in August 2008 they found a series of statue-menhirs (standing stones carved with human traits). Finally, this month a new dig led to the discovery of about 300 pieces of broken standing stones.

 

Around the 3rd millennium BCE, anthropomorphic statues spread throughout Europe.

 

The earliest anthropomorphic stelae date to the 4th millennium BC, and are associated with the early Bronze Age Kemi Oba culture of the Crimea and adjacent steppe region, most of them are very crude stone slabs with a simple schematic protruding head and a few features such as eyes or breasts carved into the stone but around twenty specimens, known as statue menhirs, are more complex, featuring ornaments, weapons, human or animal figures.

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http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/08/2011/statue-menhirs-found-in-a-sardinian-wall - http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/08/2011/statue-menhirs-found-in-a-sardinian-wall