Prehistory

It’s the skeleton of the "Bonifacio Woman" discovered in the Araguina site near Bonifacio in 1975 that witness this first presence. Probably arrived from Tuscany, the island first inhabitants fed themselves by hunting and gathering from the land.

The civilization which appeared at the beginning of the 6th century B.C called the Old Neolithic or Cardinal. This period concerned a population essentially composed of nomad feeders with small livestock. Agriculture developed progressively and replaced the hunting and picking activities. The settlers are mainly situated in the valley at the foothills, in the valleys dug by nature. It’s the beginning of decorated pottery making with the help of "cardium" shells from where the Neolithic name of "Cardinal".

The Middle Neolithic and recent
It’s situated between the 4th until the 3rd century before our era. It’s the appearance of decorated pottery by paint brush and carved. Man lived mainly by fishing, animal breeding always a little agriculture. We see stone dwellings appears, tools were also richer and technically improved we notice an opening towards the continent thanks also to imported rocks such as silex and especially obsidian, that black rock imported from central Sardinia (Oristano region). The opening up towards the outside world and more exploitation of local resources explain the seniority of the copper metal work dated back to about 2600 B.C where the first traces were found in the Terrina, site close to Aleria.

Megalithic or the Final-Neolithic
Civilization extends from the 3rd to the 1st millennium. The island is covered by complex monuments: fortresses, dolmens and menhirs.
- I castelli: constructions built together more or less fortified, and grouped the cabins round buildings or rectangular with various uses.
- I stazzoni or dolmens: funeral monuments collections always very present in Southern Corsica. This monumental representation of death is shown well placed on the ridge and the plain, it’s the symbol of this era.
- I stantari or menhir-statues: it’s a kind of human representation statue curved in the granite, most often arms with a sword and a knife. These menhirs statues can be up to 2-4 meters in height. We count 80 around Corsica, the most important site is that of Filitosa.