The excavations have revealed the distinction between two major chronological phases that marked the development of the village: the first one, dating from 2200-2000 BC, is related to the so-called Monte Claro Culture, while the very long phase that followed runs from the Nuragic Age to the Roman Age.
Living structures dating back to the Copper Age were discovered during excavations in 1979 together with a megalithic shrine and a group of twelve menhirs, two of which are still standing today.
A number of huts adjacent to a rocky outcrop on which a false-dome nuraghe (the best-known type with a truncated cone shape) and a ‘corridor’ nuraghe (a generally older type) have been found, have yet to be explored.
A short distance from the village is the Preda Ruha Tomb of the Giants, a burial site that still retains significant structural elements typical of these megalithic monuments, such as the dolmen corridor, the exedra and the trapezoidal stela.
The village of Biriai is a veritable mine of valuable information that has helped archaeologists shed light on the ancient communities that inhabited Barbagia and the whole of Sardinia.
