The necropolis of Li Muri is a part of the so-called "European Megaliths". During the fifth millennium B.C. in Western Europe, specifically in the Catalan, Pyrenees and Corsica-Sardinia areas, there was a development of the cultural phenomenon of Megaliths, characterised by the use of large stones in the cultural and funerary architecture, whose most distinguishing feature is the lithic cista within a circular mound (fig. 1).

Fig. 1 - Circle necropolis with cista at Monte Rotundu, Corsica (from ANTONA, LO SCHIAVO, PERRA 2011, p. 245, fig. 3).

The burial chamber consists of four side by side monoliths, buried in relation to the level of the soil, and can be of a simple or complex type (with a circular mound structure), single or associated with others in small necropolis (fig. 2).

Fig. 2 - La Macciunitta (from ANTONA, LO SCHIAVO, PERRA 2011, p. 243, fig. 2).

The tombs in the Catalan, Pyrenees and Corsica-Sardinia areas have significant common structural features: the stone cista can be buried or visible, rectangular, square or trapezoidal, placed inside a ring of stone slabs embedded like teeth and made with small and medium size rubble or with a single or double ring of stones or with large stone slabs positioned vertically of a diameter ranging between 5.30 and 22 metres.

The burials are generally single or multiple.

In Sardinia, within the articulated overview of prehistoric cultural phenomena in Gallura, there are a number of megalithic funerary monuments and funerary architecture, where the mound is an important component and which show a close relationship with the Corsica-Pyrenean area.

Fig. 3 - 3D reconstruction of the funerary circles of li Muri in Arzachena (photo by Unicity S.p.A.).