The Nuraghic village of Serra Orrios is part of the rich and diversified archaeological heritage surveyed in the territory of Dorgali (figs. 1,2,3); it is located on the basaltic plateau of Gollei and was discovered during the thirties of the last century, moreover contemporary to the Giants’ tomb of Thomes. A village-shrine with 49 huts with ancillary rooms, two small temples with adjacent fencing, and two megalithic tombs was brought to light following the excavations begun by archaeologist Doro Levi between 1936 and 1938, and completed in the nineties by the inspector of the Archaeological Heritage Department Maria Ausilia Fadda.

Fig. 1 - Aerial view of the site of Serra Orrios-Dorgali (from http://www.sardegnacultura.it/immagini/7_87_20060525161103.jpg).

Fig. 2 - Site plan of Serra Orrios-Dorgali (from MORAVETTI 1998, fig. 25, p. 34).

The village huts are grouped into six blocks consisting of several rooms which open onto a common courtyard, where organised water collection systems are available. The other structures have a very irregular circular profile, and were built with a base formed by rows of stones topped by a hypothetical straw roof; niches were often encased within the walls. The floors are made of stone slabs, cobbles or simple beaten earth. At the centre of the huts and near the entrance there is a sunken circular hearth bordered by stones (fig. 3).

Fig. 3 - The huts of the village of Serra Orrios-Dorgali (photo by Caterina Nieddu).

An alleged meeting hut, used during collective ceremonies, is situated in an isolated location; pseudo-elliptical in shape, it is accessed by a walkway made of orthostatic slabs, with seats and benches running along the entire wall. The two sacred areas, each made up of two temple buildings of the megaron rectangular type (A and B), consist of a room preceded by an atrium, enclosed within megalithic fences and have provided an important scientific contribution, given the particularity of such a religious structure, the first to come to light within the Sardinian archaeological scenery (fig. 4).

Fig. 4 - Entrance to fence A inside which a Megaron temple was found (photo by Caterina Nieddu).

The artefacts found in Serra Orrios, all attributable to the Nuraghic timeframe, are rather limited compared with its duration and document various activities linked to domestic work, the metallurgical industry, leather processing, agriculture, and milling, and are part of a time span ranging between the Middle Bronze Age and the Iron Age (VIII-XVII/VI centuries B.C.).

Fig. 5 - Hypothetical reconstruction of the site of Serra Orrios-Dorgali (da MORAVETTI 1998, fig. 59, pp. 70-71).