ORIGINAL ARTICLE Geoheritage (2025) 17:1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12371-024-01048-3 bones belonged to mastodonts, mammoths and wholly rhi- nos by ancient Greeks suggested the presence of a tribe of giant humans destroyed by Heracles in a battle. This legend was reported by the historician Solinus (III century) in his Collectanea rerum memorabilium and traditionally consid- ered as an imaginative lie. Only few decades ago this legend has been correctly framed as numerous historical evidences thanks to recent paleontological excavations (Mayor 2000; Solounias and Mayor 2004). Another legend based on fossilised long bones is that of native people of South Dakota who believed that in that area a violent battle had taken place between land, sea and air giant monsters. Once again in this case, palaeontologists have recently found a large amount of dinosaur remains (Mayor 2005; Pearson et al. 2002). Numerous other historical evidences have been better understood thanks to the paleontological discover- ies recently conducted and correctly framed (Solounias and Mayor 2004). In the area corresponding to the ancient town of Tingis in Morocco, palaeontological excavations have brought to light very large sized bones of Miocene mammals such as whales and giraffes proving a scientific base of the Introduction The discovery of fossil remains in archaeological contexts is a very attractive field of research that can stimulate the attention of both palaeontologists and archaeologists. From the study of this interaction between very distant fields of knowledge, important information can emerge on the cul- tural significance that fossils had in ancient civilisations and for what reason they were often collected and used. In ancient societies, fossils have often been interpreted as supernatural objects and in some cases have given rise to legends and myths. Among others, the finding of fossilised  Marco Zedda mzedda@uniss.it 1 Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy 2 Archeologist – Independent Researcher, Nuoro, Italy 3 Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy Abstract The finding of animal and plant fossils in archaeological contexts raises the question of their importance in prehistoric times. Fossils have often been interpreted as supernatural objects and could have given rise legends and myths. They can inadvertently introduced along with building materials but the interest in fossil collection by inhabitants of prehistoric settlements responded to reasons that are still not fully clear today. Some hypotheses include the possibility that fossils were pierced to be used as pendants and ornaments, and in funerary contexts that they could have a role in the afterlife. This work presents the exceptional discovery of a large fossil of a Mesozoic marine mollusk exhibited in a building stone of a Sardinian Bronze Age sanctuary (Nuragic culture, XII-IX century BC) located in the central-eastern Sardinia (Italy). The use of this fossil as a rock block for the construction of a wall was not accidental as it was specially placed so that it was exposed to the visitor who walked the access path to the sanctuary. Interestingly, the spiral shape of this fossil suggests a similarity to the ovine horns carved in the near roundhouse of the sanctuary. The aim of the work is to use the discovery of a fossil to raise awareness among researchers of an aspect that can have great cultural implications. Indeed, although this work describes a single fossil found in an archaeological context, it is the first time that it has been done in Sardinia, an island rich in paleontological and archaeological evidence. Keywords Sardinia · Nuragic village · Mesozoic fossil · Spiral motif · Ovine horns · Geoheritage Received: 16 February 2024 / Accepted: 26 November 2024 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to International Association for the Conservation of Geological Heritage 2024 Fossils in Archaeological Sites: A Mesozoic Mollusk in the Nuragic Sanctuary of Sa Sedda ’e Sos Carros (Sardinia, Italy) Marco Zedda 1  · Francesca Floris 2  · Daniel Zoboli 3 1 3