Altare prenuragico di Monte d'Accoddi

The altar of Monte d'Accodi, a sacred monument, unique in the Mediterranean area, located in an isolated plain in the center of the Nurra, eleven kilometers from Sassari, impressive and surprising for its shape reminiscent of the ziqqurat widespread in Mesopotamia in the III millennium BC Its name derives from the Sardinian Logudorese and means "Mountain or hill of the Stones". Vast domus de janas necropolis are present in this area as evidenced by the two menhirs located in a field to the east of the altar, from which two spheroidal stones of probable sacred value come from, interpreted by some as astral symbols. The sacredness of this place is testified by the propitiatory rites of fertility. Its discovery dates back to 1952, and thanks to the work of archaeologists it was possible to define the different phases that characterized this site, starting with a first village with oval-shaped huts attributed to the Middle Neolithic or the Recent Neolithic and, in the related phase to the Culture of Ozieri (3200-2800 BC), a second village with quadrangular huts in the center of which a megalithic cult area was built with stone slabs for offerings and a menhir. Around 3000 BC, in the area previously occupied by the village, it was decided to build a first altar consisting of a quadrangular terrace called the "Red Temple", since its surface was plastered and painted with red ocher. A 25-meter long ramp made it possible to climb up to the top on which the cell was located, a rectangular structure, of which remains of the floor and part of the perimeter wall are preserved. Probably following a fire, around 2800 BC. a second stepped structure was superimposed on the first altar, of larger dimensions consisting of a truncated pyramidal platform covered with large limestone boulders. During the Abealzu Culture (2600 BC), an extended village with rectangular huts was built around the altar, including the Sorcerer's Hut, the only one with more rooms, so named because of the singular finds found during the excavation.