The Project was undertaken in 2006 as a collaboration between the University of Sassari and the Usini Town Council, with the intention of promoting and developing local historical and cultural heritage through the financing of a multi-year research project under the direction of Maria Grazia Melis. An interdisciplinary team was appointed for the task, in partnership with a group of specialists from the UMR 6636 Lampea di Aix en Provence, directed by André D'Anna. The objective of the research was a reconstruction of the environment and socio-economic conditions of the human groups that populated the area surrounding the domus de janas necropolis of S'Elighe Entosu in prehistory. Knowledge of the territory was in fact fundamental to the appropriate development of the local cultural heritage. The attention of the researchers was therefore extended to a much larger area and on a wider scale, beyond the confines of the local council. The principal tools of research were the archaeological excavation of the necropolis and systematic field walking of the region. The excavation, yet to be completed, has however made it possible to partially reconstruct the various phases of frequentation and use of the prehistoric necropolis. Furthermore, it brought to light the existence of a later Roman phase in the same necropolis. The study of monumental remains in the field, undertaken through interdisciplinary research, brought together various interlinking themes,: the identification of available natural resources (accessible flint deposits, geological formations, sedimentary dynamics and natural environment), field walking over large areas, which significantly updated maps of known archaeological deposits, the technological study of various materials and the analysis of the provenience of raw materials for stone industry. These activities made it possible to better understand how the territory was occupied following the guidelines provided by regional archaeology and human geography. 

A census of archaeological sites was updated and presented in 2010 to meet the needs of local and regional planning legislation and the territorial analysis was further deepened starting in 2019 in the north-western sector of the Usini territory, concerning the use of the numerous natural cavities, in particular in the localities of Tanarighes and Tomestighes.

The analysis of craft production, undertaken with an integrated morphological and technological approach, helped to define the chronological-cultural sequences of the use of the necropolis of S'Elighe Entosu, throughout the Ozieri I, Ozieri II, Bell-Beaker, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Punic, Roman  and conteporary  phases.

The research results have been published in numerous articles and three monographs:

MELIS M. G. 2010, ed., Usini. Ricostruire il passato. Una ricerca internazionale a S’Elighe Entosu, Sassari, Carlo Delfino editore, 312 p. (some contributions can be downloaded below).

MELIS M. G. 2016, ed., Usini. Nuove ricerche a S’Elighe Entosu, Quaderni del LaPArS 2.                                                 http://www.lapars.it/sites/default/files/Quaderni_LaPArS_2.pdf

MELIS M. G. 2023 (ed.), Usini. Ricostruire il passato. Venti anni di ricerche archeologiche, Quaderni del LaPArS         http://www.lapars.it/sites/default/files/lapars5.pdf