Sassi Ritti, Prehistoric menhir site in Campo nell'Elba, Italy.
Sassi Ritti is a prehistoric megalithic site on the island of Elba, in the municipality of Campo nell'Elba, made up of four standing stone monoliths. The stones are set on a hillside and form a clear row that can be seen from a distance.
The four menhirs were first reported in 1867 by Raphael Foresi to the palaeontologist responsible for Portoferraio, who took no action. Burials and tools of Sardinian obsidian from Monte Arci were found nearby in the past. The row stands close to the Villanovan necropolises of Piane alla Sughera and Lo Spino.
The name Sassi Ritti means "upright stones" in Italian, and the four aniconic menhirs gave the spot its toponym. They form a north-south alignment, a type of row also found in Corsica and Sardinia, possibly linked to a solar cult. Nearby lie the Villanovan necropolises of Piane alla Sughera and Lo Spino.
The four menhirs stand at 327 m on the Pietra Murata, above San Piero in Campo, near the Villanovan necropolis of Lo Spino. The row runs roughly north-south, so the stones are seen in line when approached along that axis. The ground is open and uneven; no facilities are recorded at the site.
Objects found near the menhirs suggest that Elba was already connected to other Mediterranean communities through trade routes long before it became known for its iron ore. This makes the site a small but telling piece of a broader story that goes far beyond the island itself.
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