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On the opposite side of the road is a large gate to the nuraghe and the village which surrounds it. The village huts are a more recent discovery, and the best preserved one can be seen by taking the path between the two roped off sections of village towards the trees north of the nuraghe.

The nuraghe itself is of mixed type (part tholos, part corridor). Through its entrance on the south eastern side, there’s a tholos chamber with an impresive niche in the facing wall. To the left, the stairs to the rest of the building have been roped off as it’s unsafe due to landslides.

Smaller than tomba B, but better preserved, this grave is only metres away with an incredible view over the lake.

The esedra is over 11m wide, and its stones are leaning forward towards the lake. The broken centre slab has a portal hatch 70cm x 55cm. The funery corridor (inside dimensions 4.7m x 0.8m) is perfectly formed and the rear of the grave has the same style of curved stones as its neighbour.

For the modern ticket / info huts, the first thing you see is the perfect curves of the back of tomba B – and the amazing view over Lake Omodeo. The lake however was created around 1920 with a dam across the Tirso, so the original vista would have been over the valley, with its numerous nuraghe, some of which reappear when the water level is low.

The corridor is about 10m x 1.4m and is paved with huge stone slabs. The grave is impressive but not well preserved; in the small copse of trees there are several huge pieces of carved stone which once belonged to it.

This group – consisting of 2 tomba di gigante, a nuraghe and village around it, a dolmen and a domus de janus – is just west of Sedillo, and is signposted from the town.

I was rather excited about what we’d find here, and in the vicinity, and hoped that there would be someone around to ask ..... there are 3 huts which look distinctly like a visitors’ centre, ticket hut, and toilets, respectively, but not a soul in sight. No notices either, but I assume an entrance fee is payable.

From the parking area, the two tombs are to the south, overlooking Lake Omodeo, the nuraghe and village to the north, but the domus de janus and dolmen remain a mystery to us.

My notes said that the domus de janus – Ispiluncas – consisting of 34 tombs – is “on the slopes of the hill where the nuraghe rises” and my Google Earth map showed it on the slope below the info/ticket huts. I had a grid reference for the dolmen – the wrong grid reference! – and a description of its location “the monument is found to the right of the nuraghic complex”.

Right next to Tomba A you find what’s probably the most famous feature of the site – the 6 betili.

They were recorded by Count Albert de la Marmora but his notes give different positions, so they may well not be in their original place.

The 3 to the south represent the female figure, with obvious carved breasts; they are also taller, at just over 1.5m, than the males (1.23m – 1.38m) to the north. All are cone-shaped basalt.

The largest and most impressive of the 3 tombas, also known as “Betyls’ Grave” due to its proximity to the 6 menhirs (betyls or betili).

As at tomba B, there’s a bench along the esedra – this time its maximum width is over 20m. The total length is over 22m, and the burial corridor itself is 9.5m x 1.3m.

The thick walls are actually 2 walls with the cavity between them filled with rubble and earth.

The entrance to the corridor has a stone with a round cornered rectangle carved out of it – only one side remains, but it appears to be the portal to the grave.

The information boards show a reconstruction – a tomba made from courses of stone as we’d seen at Mura Cuada rather than those with a stele as at Coddu Vecchju.

The second grave, tomba B, is more impressive than the first. Though ruinous, it’s easy to see the esedra, or winged forecourt, with a width of 14.5m. The corridor is paved with square stone slabs.

The whole tomb is almost 17½m long, and has a long low bench surrounding out. Finds from inside date it similarly to tomba C.

As you go up the hill to Tamuli, the first tomba, known as tomba C, is to the right.

It’s the smallest of the 3 here, and is irregular in shape. It’s hard to work it out, but there is a narrow corridor, and the front of the grave has a paved forecourt but is missing the typical esedra. Remains found outside it have dated it to 1500 – 1200 BCE.

Signposted from nearby Macomer, this is a complex site. The grid reference given is for the car park / ticket hut; each of the main elements is being listed as a subsite.

Ticket hut, tardis-style portaloo, list of prices (5 euros / 3½ euros), but no opening times and no one in sight. The posters did warn that anyone entering outside the opening times did so at their own risk and if found there, would be liable to pay the entrance fee. Fair enough! We climbed the gate and followed the track up the (gentle) hill.

Nuraghe Losa is just south of Abbasanta, alongside, and signposted from, the SS131, though on a convoluted junction.

As you pull off the slip road, there’s a building 50m or so to the right; this is the ticket hut, but also shop, bar etc. It’s managed by Cooperativa Paleotur, and costs 3½euros to enter (reductions available). Open 09:00 – 19:00 (17:00 in winter). For once, my attempt at Italian was answered in English, and tickets and info leaflets in hand, we walked back to the turning and up the track to the main gate, about 200m in total.

The complex is enclosed by a wall, ovoid in shape and approximately 300m x 200m. Just past the gate, there’s an exhibition of funery urns to the left, gathered from all over the site; Beardy found loads more of these in the long grass behind the museum huts. The track takes you through the south east entrance; there are 3 more – one opposite, and two with oval towers at the apices of the ramparts. A village within the enclosure, thought to be late Bronze Age, has only been partially excavated.

But the main attraction is the nuraghe itself. It’s a trilobate structure, with huts and a curtain wall surrounding it. The upper floor has collapsed, but it’s still an impressive 13m high.

The main entrance is almost hidden by a round hut (Cap 1 on the plan) with several niches and recesses in its wall. In the actual nuraghe, there’s no central courtyard at we’d seen at Santu Antine, instead there’s chamber C to the right and chamber B to the left. Going straight ahead, there’s a niche to the right with a flight of steps opposite it, then on through to the main tholos chamber with 3 wall niches, one opposite the entrance and the others on the opposite sides, forming a cross shape.

The third smaller tower can only be reached from the small northerly entrance. It as a (gated and locked) stairway that connects back over the summit of the nuraghe.

The stairs are worn to more of a sandy uphill track, clockwise round the main tower. The smaller towers, E and F on the plan, and their connecting wall, are thought to be a later addition.

There’s a modern hut in the south of the enclosure with an exhibition of finds from here and other local sites.

The site has been dated to as early as 1400 BCE; it was investigated in 1898 and again in 1915, but the main excavation and restoration works were carried out between 1970 and 1976.