Mamoiada, Menhir of Boeli - Sa Perda Pintà

The stele is located in a courtyard on the outskirts of Mamoiada, in the center of Barbagia di Ollolai, in central Sardinia.
The Boeli stele, also known as Sa Perda Pintà, is a large granite statue-menhir (height 2.67 m; width 2.10-1.30 m; thickness 0.57 m) with a plano-convex section and an arched top. The major surfaces are both well finished. The front one is characterized by the presence of a dense engraved decoration: these are motifs consisting of a minimum of two to a maximum of seven concentric circles - obtained with incisions with a concave-convex and plano-convex sections - that develop around a central cup (diameter cm 4/5; depth cm 0.8). From the latter, a rectilinear incision begins, which cuts all the circles, ending in a hooked appendix. The decoration is completed by 23 cups of different sizes that thicken in the upper part and in the lower left sector of the plate: in this last part, seven cups are dug in a regular semicircle around one of the patterns in concentric circles intersected by a rectilinear engraving. The symbols are probably connected with cults related to fertility and the cycle of death-rebirth, peculiar to the religiosity of Neolithic farming communities. The presence, in the area surrounding the place where the statue was discovered, of ceramic fragments with the decoration typical of the culture of Ozieri (3200-1800 BC), makes it possible to date the stele to this period.

History of excavations
The stone was found by chance in 1997 in Mamoiada, during the construction of a house.

Bibliography
M.A. Fadda, “Mamoiada” (Nuoro). Locality: Sa Conca and San Emmina-Boeli-Istevene. New discoveries of menhirs”, in Bulletin of Archaeology, n. 43-45, 1997, pp. 113-116.

How to get there
Exit the town of Mamoiada and follow the signs for the SS 389. On the outskirts of the town, you can see, on the left, the tourist signs to reach the monument. The stele is located inside the courtyard of the Bed & Breakfast of the same name.