One of the main aspects of the Nuraghic religion was based on the cult of the dead and the beliefs related to the underworld. The plan structure of the monuments themselves recalls a bull's head: a symbol of the religion of Sardinia’s prehistoric people since the distant Neolithic Period because of its attributes of strength and virility. At the centre of the semi-circular space of the exedra of Thomes (fig. 1), where the funeral rites were held, there is still in situ (fig. 2) the most interesting element of the burial site, the arched stele, where it is possible to see the porta inferi, which symbolically represents the door between the kingdoms of the living and of the dead.

Fig. 1 - Giants’ tomb of Thomes (photo by Unicity S.p.A.).

The ancient literary tradition recounts ritualistic and therapeutic incubation rites linked to the cult of idealised and deified ancestors, which apparently took place on the counters of the front exedras of the giants’ tombs.

The culture of death in proto Sardinian society is documented by a series of elements which, in close relationship with the tomb, in the burial chamber and in the exedra, are functional to the ritual practices honouring the deceased: bethels, small bethels, pits, wells, bowls, niches, benches (figs. 2, 3).

Fig. 2 - Giants’ tomb of Campu de Pira’ and Onni of Villagrande Strisaili (from http://photos.wikimapia.org/p/00/04/24/61/60_big.jpg).

Fig. 3 - Bethels from the funerary complex of Tamuli-Macomer (from http://www.sardegnadigitallibrary.it/index.php?xsl=615&s=17&v=9&c=4461&id=120744).