The Sulcis, in the south-west of Sardinia, is a landscape of cork oaks, bare hills and old mines, and Montessu lies in a quiet corner of it. The necropolis here is a cliff of pale trachyte rock, pierced by dozens of small chambers cut out by hand more than five thousand years ago. The Sardinians call such tombs domus de janas, houses of the fairies, and the name suits them: little rooms with doorways, ceilings and carved details like beams and, in a few, the spiral and horned symbols of a religion we only half understand. The site is managed locally, and opening arrangements vary, so check before you go.
The setting is part of the attraction. The rock stands in a valley of grass and scrub, with the sound of cowbells and crickets and the smell of wild herbs. The bare rock face shines in the late afternoon sun, and the doorways make dark squares in the stone. The tombs belong to the Ozieri culture, one of the great Neolithic cultures of the island, which also left behind the beautiful pottery and figurines now held in the museum at Cagliari.
The roads in the Sulcis are among the best in Sardinia for a rider. They climb through cork forest and over low passes, with tight bends, empty straights and long views to the sea. The surfaces are mostly good, with the odd patch of gravel, and traffic is very light. The coast road to the west, with its dunes and sea cliffs, is spectacular. Heat in summer is fierce, so start early. Wild boar and goats appear without warning, so keep an eye out, especially at dusk.
Villaperuccio, the nearest village, has just over nine hundred people, and Narcao a few more. Carbonia, with twenty-one thousand, was founded as a mining town in 1938 and is the place to find fuel, shops and rooms. Santadi, to the south, makes good wine from the Carignano grape.
Come in spring or autumn. The island is warm and green, and the roads are at their best. The Su Nuraxi at Barumini, on this ride, is a very different monument from the Bronze Age, an impressive nuragic fortress farther north.