Abstract
One of the most important megalithic groups in Western Europe in terms of number and characteristics is the group of over 200 monuments of various types in Sardinia. It now seems to be confirmed that the rise of the megalithic phenomenon was during the culture of San Michele of Ozieri (Late Neolithic, 4000-3300 B.C.E.). The Sardinian dolmen graves, however, had a maximum distribution during the Chalcolithic, as evidenced by most of the finds from excavations. The phenomenon also shows a close relationship beyond Sardinia and especially with the monuments of Catalonia, Pyrenees, non-coastal departments of French-midi, Corsica and Puglia.
 About 90 dolmen graves of various types have been investigated, namely the simple type, “corridor” type, “allée couverte” type, and others of uncertain attribution, located in central-western Sardinia, and particularly in a significant area of ca. 3500 km2 coinciding with the historical regions of Marghine-Planargia, Middle Valley of Tirso and Montiferru. This includes some 40% of all Sardinian dolmens. Locational trends and relationships with regard to landscape elements were studied with the aid of GIS methodologies such as viewshed and cost surface analysis. This allowed an evaluation of the role of visual dominance on the surroundings in relation to waterways and natural access routes.
 These dolmens enjoy an isolated positional character, being found more often in high plateaus, but also on low plateaus and hills. Although different concentrations are found in dolmenic graves, these do not seem to have any direct relationship among them, but their influence is apparently directed towards travel routes and sensitive elements of the landscape that have capabilities of territorial demarcation.
 The particular location emphasizes the significance of these monuments as territorial markers for segmentary societies. It seems that a dolmen was constructed according to the territory immediately surrounding it. This reinforces the hypothesis of there being a secondary task, in addition to that of burial, to symbolize a message or landmark for those who moved towards "another" territory: a sign of belonging.
Highlights
In Sardinia archaeologists have shown an important megalithic phenomenon, consisting of over 200 dolmens, situated for the most part in the central-northern area of the island
The data from recent stratigraphical investigations, the archaeological materials sporadically recovered in some dolmens, the structural and cultural relationships among the Sardinian dolmens and other prehistoric monuments of the island, typological comparisons with similar dolmenic monuments of various extra-insular areas, allow to report that the dolmens of Sardinia belong to a time period ranging from the late Neolithic to the Eneolithic, perhaps with a degree of reuse in the Bronze age
With Least Cost Path Analysis (LCPA) we simulated paths that join the dolmens located on the borders of our study area with the geographic median point of the analyzed area
Summary
In Sardinia archaeologists have shown an important megalithic phenomenon, consisting of over 200 dolmens, situated for the most part in the central-northern area of the island. The dolmens belong to five main categories: simple type, “corridor" type, "side entrance" type, "mixed" type (i.e. monuments partly excavated in the rock and partly built with orthostats and dolmenic coverage) and ‘allées couvertes’. The data from recent stratigraphical investigations, the archaeological materials sporadically recovered in some dolmens, the structural and cultural relationships among the Sardinian dolmens and other prehistoric monuments of the island, typological comparisons with similar dolmenic monuments of various extra-insular areas, allow to report that the dolmens of Sardinia belong to a time period ranging from the late Neolithic to the Eneolithic (from the end of the fourth to the beginning of the second millennium B.C.E.), perhaps with a degree of reuse in the Bronze age
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