Stories in stone: the role of heritage interpretation in shaping the Mont'e Prama Giants narrative in 21st-century Italy

Over the past two decades, Italy’s archaeological heritage has become a contested space where local identity and political power intersect, exemplified by the Mont’e Prama Giants— Bronze Age statues discovered near Cabras, Sardinia, in 1974. Their split display between the National Archaeological Museum of Cagliari and the Civic Museum of Cabras sparked debates on cultural ownership, revealing tensions between regional identity, national policies, and global museology. This study uses multimodal storytelling analysis, drawing on Roppola’s exhibition design, Hein’s educational theories, and Ferguson’s literary museology to examine how heritage interpretation shapes narratives. It shows how interpretive practices embed the statues in ongoing struggles over identity, legitimacy, and territorial claims, highlighting heritage interpretation’s role in mediating power through narrative.