Archaeologists are stunned after discovering three ancient “fairy houses”, perfectly intact on a Sardinian hillside.

Excavations on the island off the coast of Italy uncovered the bizarre  5,000-year-old chambers, locally termed domus de janas, or, “fairy houses” with a number of artefacts in “excellent condition”, according to the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the Provinces of Sassari and Nuoro.

Despite the Latin term domus de janas from Sardinian folklore, these structures do not belong to mythical beings.

There have only been 17 of these rudimentary-looking bold stone structures from the late Neolithic period and Copper Age found before this latest discovery.

The superintendency said “this new discovery enriches  knowledge of the domus de janas – tombs carved into rock that often reproduce, in relief, details of the houses of the living and symbolic decorations linked to magical-religious rituals.”

Sardinian mythology states that fairies and supernatural beings lived in the structures. However, archaeologists have concluded through the finding of bones and remains that these were in fact burial sites.

The site also held over 30 Roman-era ceramic pieces, including plates, oil lamps and jugs. The statement described all the artifacts as being “in excellent condition.”

The burial sites were identified through scrutiny of the varying terrain characteristics between existing tombs and burial sites in the area – which pointed to potential subterranean structures – yet to be discovered. 

The excavations revealed a fan-shaped arrangement of the three chambers extending from an existing structure called the Tomb of the Hearth. The “fairy houses” make up the Sant’Andrea Priu archaeological site, which has gained recent recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Mediterranean island, situated south of Corsica, has become renowned for both its coastal attractions and archaeological heritage. Archaeologists found stone implements including pickaxes and a miniature greenstone axe, as well as a spindle whorl- a weighted object fitted to a spindle to help maintain the spindle’s speed of rotation – used in textile production.

Fragments of obsidian and ceramic sherds were distributed throughout the sites. The chamber designated as the Tomb of the Roman Vases yielded particularly rich finds, featuring decorative painted bands on its walls.

This specific tomb contained more than thirty ceramic items from the Roman period, encompassing oil lamps, serving plates and vessels for liquids, with evidence of highly sophisticated stone-carving techniques from over five millennia ago. The structures designs often incorporated symbolic elements connected to religious or ritualistic practices of Neolithic and Copper Age communities.