Prehistory of Corsica
Encyclopedia
The prehistory of Corsica
is analogous to the prehistories of the other islands in the Mediterranean Sea
, such as Sicily
, Sardinia
, Malta
and Cyprus
, which could only be accessed by boat and featured cultures that were to some degree insular; that is, modified from the traditional Palaeolithic, Mesolithic
, Neolithic
and Chalcolithic of European prehistoric cultures. The islands of the Aegean Sea
and Crete
early developed Bronze Age
civilizations and are accordingly usually treated under those categories. Stone Age
Crete however shares some of the features of the prehistoric Mediterranean islands.
The possible presence of Upper Paleolithic
people on Corsica during the last glacial period is a topic of interest to professional and amateur prehistorians alike. Currently only one possible site of this period is known. For most of it Corsica and Sardinia with all the islands between were physically continuous with the Italian
peninsula, although they have been islands at various times in geologic history.
The insular prehistory of Corsica begins with the Mesolithic
(Pre-Neolithic) when people from prehistoric Sardinia
crossed the Strait of Bonifacio
to hunt from rock shelters in Corsica at approximately 9000 BC. It ends with colonization by the Ancient Greek
s at Aleria
in 566 BC, the Iron Age
. Corsica, or Kyrnos, is not mentioned before then. The history of Corsica
begins in 566 BC.
locations on the DNA
in the blood cells of 179 blood donors from Corsica compared genetic distance
between allele
s (variants at those locations) in an attempt to determine "homogeneity" or closeness of kinship
and "heterogeneity" within this sample of the Corsican population and also between this and other samples elsewhere. Analysis of variance
was the chief statistical method applied to the data.
For Corte
, which is inland Corsica, the investigators use the term stochastic
(random), finding a higher variability among Corsicans than within the rest of the Mediterranean reference population. There was also a gap between Corse-du-Sud
and Haute-Corse
. Using an assumed generation of 25 years, the investigators estimate a base population at 20,000 BP for the first humans of Corsica. As this number is in no way supported by archaeological evidence, it suggests that cultural remains of the Palaeolithic may well yet turn up.
The greatest genetic distances were between the Sardinia
n and Corsican populations, which indicates that the islands were settled by different people. The investigators exclude any significant gene flow between the two islands. The closest affinities were with the population of Tuscany
. The investigators attribute this closer kinship to a major influx from there in the early and middle Neolithic, which they date to the 8th-6th millennia BP. Subsequently they postulate a population expansion in the Chalcolithic (their 4th millennium BP), which is substantiated by the distribution of Corsican artifacts throughout the Mediterranean.
The separation of Corsican and non-Corsican populations falls within rather wide limits: no earlier than 19,000 BP or later than between 4929 and 8746 BP. An indigenous Corsican population had therefore formed by about 3000 BC at latest, in this view.
A study in 2002 by Vona and others of 19 genetic markers, 54 alleles, on 1164 persons reached exactly the opposite conclusion: "Corsica also appears to be greatly differentiated from the populations of regions such as France and Tuscany .... The Mediterranean population most comparable to Corsica is Sardinia." Apparently genetic studies of the Corsicans are still exploratory and are not yet reaching definitive evidence on their affinities to other populations. The two studies did draw the same conclusions about the gap between Corse-du-Sud and Haute-Corse.
, once widespread. In 1889 and 1894 Jubainville
proposed a non-Indo-European substrate
language for Corsica, Sardinia, eastern Spain, southern France and western Italy based on the occurrence there of place names ending in -asco, -asca, -usco, -osco, -osca or modifications of them.
In his view two recognized but unknown languages mentioned by classical authors were survivals: Ligurian
and Iberian
. This choice of languages relies on Seneca the Younger
, who spent eight years in exile on Corsica starting in 41 AD and expressed the opinion that the coastal Corsicans were Liguria
n but the inlanders were of Iberian
extraction, most like the Cantabri
. As the language was probably still alive in his day, his opinions have been taken seriously.
Some of the world's most famous linguists (Paul Kretschmer
, Julius Pokorny
) then went further with the concept of a Celto-Ligurian substrate. The pursuit of this "Ligurian shadow" (Mees' term) came ultimately to nothing definitive but the place names remain and meanwhile Ligurian and Iberian came to be associated with the Cardium Pottery
Culture, which in the western Mediterranean had about the same distribution as the names. On Corsica, some sites of that culture were continuously occupied until the Iron Age
.
Jubainville's list of those toponyms in Corsica include, north of the Tavignano River: Venzolasca
, Grillasca village in Olmeto
, Feciasco and Prucinasca in Barbaggio
, Martinasche in Nonza
, Cipronasco in Sisco
, Palasca
, the Ruisseau de Bartasca in Calvi, Popolasca
, the hamlet of Caposciasca in Pianello
, Baraniasche in Castello-di-Rostino
, Velflasca in Zalana
. South of the Tavignano: Mount Ecilasca near Pietroso
, Mount Filasca near Corrano
, hamlet of Solasca in Peri
, Fiummasca in Rosazia
, Acellasca in Pietrosella
, Moraschi in Bocognano
, Bodiciasche in Cauro
.
The -asco suffices are not present in Sartène
but Jubainville points to another set in use there: -inco, -inca, as in the Golfe de Valinco, Stavolinca peak, and in Bastia
: the Bevinco river, as well as Mount Revinco; Corte
: le Ruisseau de Saninco; Ajaccio
: the hamlet of Capinca in Carbuccia
. A settlement name of this type is listed in Ptolemy
: Asinkon (Osincum). In addition are -aco, -aca, possibly from -asco: Cargiaca
, Viaca peak, Urtaca
, Mount Faraca, Tavaco
, Venaco
. For detailed comparisons with continental names see Jubainville.
data and turned into graphic form (see article). During the last glaciation, Corsica and Sardinia were connected and joined to Tuscany
through the Tuscan archipelago
. The Corsican land mass was larger by a significant shelf now drowned.
Utilizing an average depth of 70 metres (229.7 ft) for the Strait of Bonifacio
, the sea level would have been at that point at approximately 12,000 BP, roughly 10,000 BC. As it is unthinkable that Palaeolithic cultures would not have spread over the entire shelf and the finger-bone of 20,000 BP from Sardinia gives certain evidence of Palaeolithic human presence there, the most logical conclusion (reached by the nearly all the prehistorians) concerning the deficit of Palaeolithic artifacts is that the sites where they would have been found have not been discovered yet. One reason for their invisibility is that they have been drowned.
Mesolithic sites are for the most part confined to the lowlands of Corsica, which form a shelf around the mountains, of little interest to primitive agriculturalists and difficult to hunt. Before the transgression another shelf still lower must have provided easy access to the Palaeolithics. According to current evidence the Mesolithic was entirely within the island phase, requiring the Mesolithics to travel by boat. No such requirement existed for any possible Palaeolithics; consequently, arguments based on the maritime travel capabilities of Palaeolithcs are not relevant in this case.
, Sardinia
, Cyprus
, Mallorca
, the Balearic Islands
, etc. Typically sites that contain layers clearly identifiable as Neolithic also include preceding layers of faunal material. Although hundreds of C-14 dates have been acquired serious questions or ambiguities concerning the nature of the material have arisen: whether it is cultural or natural and whether Palaeolithic or Mesolithic
; hence, Pre-Neolithic covers either case of cultural material.
For example, the most sanguine claims for Sardinia
postulate "more than ten Paleolithic sites", the oldest of which are Clactonian
dating to the Middle Pleistocene
(300,000-200,000 BP). After a gap the Corbeddu Cave at Oliena
provides Late Pleistocene
material from 14,000-12,000 BP. However in that cave was a human phalanx bone from 20,000 BP and skull fragments from 8750±140 BP, possibly indicating an "endemic presence of humans." The most skeptical views discount the Palaeolithic claims:
The Clactonian material, in this view, comes from "disturbed contexts" or is a matter of interpretation of stones that could be natural or from some other time and the evidence of the Corbeddu Cave is "simply not very robust" due to "taphonomic
questions;" i.e., questions of the dates of the fossils. More important than the ambiguity about the period to which this and other material belong is the fact that even when clearly perceived and robustly dated they may not fit the archetypical Palaeolithic, Mesolithic
and Neolithic. A group of intermediate terms have come into use, such as pre-pottery Neolithic
, the Neolithic without its formerly diagnostic marker, the pottery.
The Pre-Neolithic therefore refers to a period before the Neolithic that either does not have all the characteristics of the Mesolithic or has a superset, the extraneous ones belonging to the Neolithic. For example, the Jomon culture of Japan is called the Pre-Neolithic because of its pottery, but it did not produce food. In the same spirit the Epipalaeolithic ("after the Palaeolithic") stands also where the Mesolithic should be.
The Mediterranean Pre-Neolithic culture lacks the microliths and fine flakes characteristic of the continental Mesolithic, which may be an alteration of the Mesolithic due to insularity. Consequently such names as "Tyrrhenian Epipalaeolithic" and "Island Mesolithic" have also been assigned. Many authors prefer the simple term Mesolithic, but the difficulty of defining it continues; for example, the famed Lady of Boniface from layer XVIIIb of Araguina-Sennola in Bonifacio, the first complete human skeleton on Corsica, has been carbon dated to 8560±150 BP or 6570±150 BC. To some she is an early Neolithic lady and to others a Pre-Neolithic one, with the Neolithic starting at either 6500 or 6000 accordingly. Dates are therefore either carbon dates or interpretational periods, which vary depending on what dates are to be included. Some sites have material from many periods, others only one.
in southern Corsica (identified by chemical analysis) is believed to indicate that the Sardinians crossed over to Corsica.
The sites are:
, a larger and better archaeologically explored island. The dating scheme in the titles below is based on a Sardinian chronology rounded to millennia.
s divided in time about equally between the two. The sea-faring population brought sheep, goats and pigs with them. Hunting was a minimal part of the economy. Occupation appears to have been intermittent.
The major sites are:
, the aligned stones and the menhir
; however, the latter include anthropomorphic or statue-menhirs with features of the head and torso carved on the upper block. Some have taken them for stelae.
Weapons began to be shown on the statue menhir
s.
of the Corsican Bronze Age
is named for its torri, "towers", which are the outstanding features of building complexes - citadels perhaps - sited on the lower slopes of the mountains overlooking the coastline. The culture continued the statue menhirs of the preceding Megalithic Culture, in many cases reusing the previous ones, but now they represent warriors armed and armored with Mycenaean
-style daggers and swords and round shields. A few have the horned helmets diagnostically depicted in representations of the Shardana
, one of the Sea Peoples
of the eastern Aegean Sea
.
Torréen society was armed, metallurgical and international. During that time the island manufactured and exported bronze ingots and artifacts that have turned up elsewhere in the Mediterranean.
The torri appear to be miniature versions of the contemporaneous nuraghes found on Sardinia
. The Nuraghes Culture
lived a way of life indistinguishable from that of the Torréen. Both were bronze-making warrior societies. The name of Sardinia almost certainly came from the name of the Shardana people. Analogous but more on the scale of the Corsican torri are the talayots of the Balearic Islands
and the sesi of Pantelleria
.
Torréen, Nuraghes and Shardana appear to be interrelated; however, the relationships remain ambiguous. It is not known whether the Shardana were from Sardinia or from somewhere else, such as Sardis
, and settled in Sardinia. The earliest nuraghi were constructed far back in the Neolithic; i.e., they appear to be a development of the Megalithic Culture. The torri on the one hand represent something new in Corsica; on the other hand, the associated statue menhirs evolved from those of the Neolithic. It can be argued that the reuse of the menhirs suggests a population influx, but the argument depends on an unknown implied taboo against reusing old menhirs. These issues remain open.
Some sites are:
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
is analogous to the prehistories of the other islands in the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, such as Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
and Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, which could only be accessed by boat and featured cultures that were to some degree insular; that is, modified from the traditional Palaeolithic, Mesolithic
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
, Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
and Chalcolithic of European prehistoric cultures. The islands of the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
and Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
early developed Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
civilizations and are accordingly usually treated under those categories. Stone Age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
Crete however shares some of the features of the prehistoric Mediterranean islands.
The possible presence of Upper Paleolithic
Upper Paleolithic
The Upper Paleolithic is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly it dates to between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, roughly coinciding with the appearance of behavioral modernity and before the advent of...
people on Corsica during the last glacial period is a topic of interest to professional and amateur prehistorians alike. Currently only one possible site of this period is known. For most of it Corsica and Sardinia with all the islands between were physically continuous with the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
peninsula, although they have been islands at various times in geologic history.
The insular prehistory of Corsica begins with the Mesolithic
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
(Pre-Neolithic) when people from prehistoric Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
crossed the Strait of Bonifacio
Strait of Bonifacio
The Strait of Bonifacio is the strait between Corsica and Sardinia, named after the Corsican town Bonifacio. It is wide and divides the Tyrrhenian Sea from the western Mediterranean Sea...
to hunt from rock shelters in Corsica at approximately 9000 BC. It ends with colonization by the Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
s at Aleria
Aléria
Aléria is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica...
in 566 BC, the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
. Corsica, or Kyrnos, is not mentioned before then. The history of Corsica
History of Corsica
That the history of Corsica has been influenced by its strategic position at the heart of the western Mediterranean and its maritime routes, only from Sardinia, from the Isle of Elba, from the coast of Tuscany and from the French port of Nice, was first proposed by the 19th-century German...
begins in 566 BC.
Genetic demographics
A 2004 genetic study by Tofanelli and others of eight autosomalAutosome
An autosome is a chromosome that is not a sex chromosome, or allosome; that is to say, there is an equal number of copies of the chromosome in males and females. For example, in humans, there are 22 pairs of autosomes. In addition to autosomes, there are sex chromosomes, to be specific: X and Y...
locations on the DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
in the blood cells of 179 blood donors from Corsica compared genetic distance
Genetic distance
Genetic distance refers to the genetic divergence between species or between populations within a species. It is measured by a variety of parameters. Smaller genetic distances indicate a close genetic relationship whereas large genetic distances indicate a more distant genetic relationship...
between allele
Allele
An allele is one of two or more forms of a gene or a genetic locus . "Allel" is an abbreviation of allelomorph. Sometimes, different alleles can result in different observable phenotypic traits, such as different pigmentation...
s (variants at those locations) in an attempt to determine "homogeneity" or closeness of kinship
Kinship
Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....
and "heterogeneity" within this sample of the Corsican population and also between this and other samples elsewhere. Analysis of variance
Analysis of variance
In statistics, analysis of variance is a collection of statistical models, and their associated procedures, in which the observed variance in a particular variable is partitioned into components attributable to different sources of variation...
was the chief statistical method applied to the data.
For Corte
Corte
Corte is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica. It is the fourth-largest commune in Corsica .-Administration:Corte is a subprefecture of the Haute-Corse department.-History:...
, which is inland Corsica, the investigators use the term stochastic
Stochastic
Stochastic refers to systems whose behaviour is intrinsically non-deterministic. A stochastic process is one whose behavior is non-deterministic, in that a system's subsequent state is determined both by the process's predictable actions and by a random element. However, according to M. Kac and E...
(random), finding a higher variability among Corsicans than within the rest of the Mediterranean reference population. There was also a gap between Corse-du-Sud
Corse-du-Sud
Corse-du-Sud is a French département composed of the southern part of the island of Corsica.- History :The department was formed on 15 September 1975, when the Corse department was divided into Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud...
and Haute-Corse
Haute-Corse
Haute-Corse is a French department. It constitutes the northern part of the island of Corsica.- History :The department was formed on 15 September 1975, when the department of Corse was divided into Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud...
. Using an assumed generation of 25 years, the investigators estimate a base population at 20,000 BP for the first humans of Corsica. As this number is in no way supported by archaeological evidence, it suggests that cultural remains of the Palaeolithic may well yet turn up.
The greatest genetic distances were between the Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
n and Corsican populations, which indicates that the islands were settled by different people. The investigators exclude any significant gene flow between the two islands. The closest affinities were with the population of Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
. The investigators attribute this closer kinship to a major influx from there in the early and middle Neolithic, which they date to the 8th-6th millennia BP. Subsequently they postulate a population expansion in the Chalcolithic (their 4th millennium BP), which is substantiated by the distribution of Corsican artifacts throughout the Mediterranean.
The separation of Corsican and non-Corsican populations falls within rather wide limits: no earlier than 19,000 BP or later than between 4929 and 8746 BP. An indigenous Corsican population had therefore formed by about 3000 BC at latest, in this view.
A study in 2002 by Vona and others of 19 genetic markers, 54 alleles, on 1164 persons reached exactly the opposite conclusion: "Corsica also appears to be greatly differentiated from the populations of regions such as France and Tuscany .... The Mediterranean population most comparable to Corsica is Sardinia." Apparently genetic studies of the Corsicans are still exploratory and are not yet reaching definitive evidence on their affinities to other populations. The two studies did draw the same conclusions about the gap between Corse-du-Sud and Haute-Corse.
Ligurian hypothesis
The Ligurian Hypothesis is the theory that the prehistoric populations of the western Mediterranean islands were descended from the ancestors of the ancient LiguriansLigures
The Ligures were an ancient people who gave their name to Liguria, a region of north-western Italy.-Classical sources:...
, once widespread. In 1889 and 1894 Jubainville
Marie Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville
Marie Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville , was a French historian and philologist.He was born at Nancy. In 1851 he left the École des Chartes with the degree of palaeographic archivist...
proposed a non-Indo-European substrate
Substratum
In linguistics, a stratum or strate is a language that influences, or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum is a language which has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum is the language that has higher power or prestige. Both substratum and superstratum...
language for Corsica, Sardinia, eastern Spain, southern France and western Italy based on the occurrence there of place names ending in -asco, -asca, -usco, -osco, -osca or modifications of them.
In his view two recognized but unknown languages mentioned by classical authors were survivals: Ligurian
Ligures
The Ligures were an ancient people who gave their name to Liguria, a region of north-western Italy.-Classical sources:...
and Iberian
Iberian language
The Iberian language was the language of a people identified by Greek and Roman sources who lived in the eastern and southeastern regions of the Iberian peninsula. The ancient Iberians can be identified as a rather nebulous local culture between the 7th and 1st century BC...
. This choice of languages relies on Seneca the Younger
Seneca the Younger
Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero...
, who spent eight years in exile on Corsica starting in 41 AD and expressed the opinion that the coastal Corsicans were Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
n but the inlanders were of Iberian
Iberians
The Iberians were a set of peoples that Greek and Roman sources identified with that name in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula at least from the 6th century BC...
extraction, most like the Cantabri
Cantabri
The Cantabri were a pre-Roman Celtic people which lived in the northern Atlantic coastal region of ancient Hispania, from the 4th to late 1st centuries BC.-Origins:...
. As the language was probably still alive in his day, his opinions have been taken seriously.
Some of the world's most famous linguists (Paul Kretschmer
Paul Kretschmer
Paul Kretschmer was a German linguist who studied the earliest history and interrelations of the Indo-European languages and showed how they were influenced by non-Indo-European languages, such as Etruscan....
, Julius Pokorny
Julius Pokorny
Julius Pokorny was an Austrian linguist and scholar of the Celtic languages, particularly Irish, and a supporter of Irish nationalism. He held academic posts in Austrian and German universities.-Life:...
) then went further with the concept of a Celto-Ligurian substrate. The pursuit of this "Ligurian shadow" (Mees' term) came ultimately to nothing definitive but the place names remain and meanwhile Ligurian and Iberian came to be associated with the Cardium Pottery
Cardium Pottery
Cardium Pottery or Cardial Ware is a Neolithic decorative style that gets its name from the imprinting of the clay with the shell of the Cardium edulis, a marine mollusk...
Culture, which in the western Mediterranean had about the same distribution as the names. On Corsica, some sites of that culture were continuously occupied until the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
.
Jubainville's list of those toponyms in Corsica include, north of the Tavignano River: Venzolasca
Venzolasca
Venzolasca is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Grillasca village in Olmeto
Olmeto
Olmeto is a commune in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-See also:*Turra di a Calanca*Torra di Micalona*Communes of the Corse-du-Sud department-References:*...
, Feciasco and Prucinasca in Barbaggio
Barbaggio
Barbaggio is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica. It is known for its wine, its scenery, and the prehistoric site of Strette.-Geography:...
, Martinasche in Nonza
Nonza
Nonza is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Cipronasco in Sisco
Sisco, Haute-Corse
Sisco is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Palasca
Palasca
Palasca is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, the Ruisseau de Bartasca in Calvi, Popolasca
Popolasca
Popolasca is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, the hamlet of Caposciasca in Pianello
Pianello
Pianello is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Baraniasche in Castello-di-Rostino
Castello-di-Rostino
Castello-di-Rostino is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Velflasca in Zalana
Zalana
Zalana is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Geography:Zalana is in the Castagniccia region of Corsica in the Moïta-Verde canton. The village is located on the east coast of the island 22 km from the sea by road. The connecting road ends in the village....
. South of the Tavignano: Mount Ecilasca near Pietroso
Pietroso
Pietroso is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Mount Filasca near Corrano
Corrano
Corrano is a commune in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, hamlet of Solasca in Peri
Peri
In Persian mythology, which constitutes the mythology of not just Persians but all Iranian peoples, peris are descended from fallen angels who have been denied paradise until they have done penance. In earlier sources they are described as agents of evil; later, they are benevolent...
, Fiummasca in Rosazia
Rosazia
Rosazia is a commune in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Acellasca in Pietrosella
Pietrosella
Pietrosella is a commune in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Moraschi in Bocognano
Bocognano
Bocognano is a commune in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Bodiciasche in Cauro
Cauro
-References:*...
.
The -asco suffices are not present in Sartène
Sartène
Sartène , is a commune in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the island of Corsica.Its history dates back to medieval times and granite buildings from the early 16th century still line some of the streets. One of the main incidents in the town's history was an attack by pirates from Algiers...
but Jubainville points to another set in use there: -inco, -inca, as in the Golfe de Valinco, Stavolinca peak, and in Bastia
Bastia
Bastia is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It is also the second-largest city in Corsica after Ajaccio and the capital of the department....
: the Bevinco river, as well as Mount Revinco; Corte
Corte
Corte is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica. It is the fourth-largest commune in Corsica .-Administration:Corte is a subprefecture of the Haute-Corse department.-History:...
: le Ruisseau de Saninco; Ajaccio
Ajaccio
Ajaccio , is a commune on the island of Corsica in France. It is the capital and largest city of the region of Corsica and the prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud....
: the hamlet of Capinca in Carbuccia
Carbuccia
Carbuccia is a commune in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
. A settlement name of this type is listed in Ptolemy
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
: Asinkon (Osincum). In addition are -aco, -aca, possibly from -asco: Cargiaca
Cargiaca
Cargiaca is a commune in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Viaca peak, Urtaca
Urtaca
Urtaca is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Geography:Urtaca is located in the north of Corsica at the confluence of the Ostricone and the Fiume di Gargalagne at the foot of -high Mont Vicinasco.-Population:...
, Mount Faraca, Tavaco
Tavaco
Tavaco is a commune in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Venaco
Venaco
Venaco is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Geography:Venaco is on the Vecchio River with Mont Retondo, to the west and Mont Cardo, on the north. It contains Lake Bellebone.-Population:-References:*...
. For detailed comparisons with continental names see Jubainville.
Flandrian transgression
The name given to the rise in sea level after the last glaciation is the Flandrian transgression. It has been fairly well chronicled by core sampleCore sample
A core sample is a cylindrical section of a naturally occurring substance. Most core samples are obtained by drilling with special drills into the substance, for example sediment or rock, with a hollow steel tube called a core drill. The hole made for the core sample is called the "core hole". A...
data and turned into graphic form (see article). During the last glaciation, Corsica and Sardinia were connected and joined to Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
through the Tuscan archipelago
Tuscan Archipelago
The Tuscan Archipelago is a chain of islands between the Ligurian Sea and Tyrrhenian Sea, west of Tuscany, Italy.The archipelago contains the islands of Gorgona, Capraia, Elba , Pianosa, Montecristo, Giglio, and Giannutri; all of which are protected as part of the Tuscan Archipelago National...
. The Corsican land mass was larger by a significant shelf now drowned.
Utilizing an average depth of 70 metres (229.7 ft) for the Strait of Bonifacio
Strait of Bonifacio
The Strait of Bonifacio is the strait between Corsica and Sardinia, named after the Corsican town Bonifacio. It is wide and divides the Tyrrhenian Sea from the western Mediterranean Sea...
, the sea level would have been at that point at approximately 12,000 BP, roughly 10,000 BC. As it is unthinkable that Palaeolithic cultures would not have spread over the entire shelf and the finger-bone of 20,000 BP from Sardinia gives certain evidence of Palaeolithic human presence there, the most logical conclusion (reached by the nearly all the prehistorians) concerning the deficit of Palaeolithic artifacts is that the sites where they would have been found have not been discovered yet. One reason for their invisibility is that they have been drowned.
Mesolithic sites are for the most part confined to the lowlands of Corsica, which form a shelf around the mountains, of little interest to primitive agriculturalists and difficult to hunt. Before the transgression another shelf still lower must have provided easy access to the Palaeolithics. According to current evidence the Mesolithic was entirely within the island phase, requiring the Mesolithics to travel by boat. No such requirement existed for any possible Palaeolithics; consequently, arguments based on the maritime travel capabilities of Palaeolithcs are not relevant in this case.
Terminology
The term "Pre-Neolithic" is used of cultural material prior to the Neolithic on the islands of the Mediterranean Sea: CorsicaCorsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
, Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, Mallorca
Mallorca
Majorca or Mallorca is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea, one of the Balearic Islands.The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Cabrera Archipelago is administratively grouped with Majorca...
, the Balearic Islands
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
, etc. Typically sites that contain layers clearly identifiable as Neolithic also include preceding layers of faunal material. Although hundreds of C-14 dates have been acquired serious questions or ambiguities concerning the nature of the material have arisen: whether it is cultural or natural and whether Palaeolithic or Mesolithic
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
; hence, Pre-Neolithic covers either case of cultural material.
For example, the most sanguine claims for Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
postulate "more than ten Paleolithic sites", the oldest of which are Clactonian
Clactonian
The Clactonian is the name given by archaeologists to an industry of European flint tool manufacture that dates to the early part of the interglacial period known as the Hoxnian, the Mindel-Riss or the Holstein stages . Clactonian tools were made by Homo erectus rather than modern humans...
dating to the Middle Pleistocene
Middle Pleistocene
The Middle Pleistocene, more specifically referred to as the Ionian stage, is a period of geologic time from ca. 781 to 126 thousand years ago....
(300,000-200,000 BP). After a gap the Corbeddu Cave at Oliena
Oliena
Oliena is a comune in the province of Nuoro, Sardinia, Italy. It is the birthplace of former Chelsea FC and Cagliari player, and former West Ham United manager, Gianfranco Zola....
provides Late Pleistocene
Late Pleistocene
The Late Pleistocene is a stage of the Pleistocene Epoch. The beginning of the stage is defined by the base of the Eemian interglacial phase before the final glacial episode of the Pleistocene 126,000 ± 5,000 years ago. The end of the stage is defined exactly at 10,000 Carbon-14 years BP...
material from 14,000-12,000 BP. However in that cave was a human phalanx bone from 20,000 BP and skull fragments from 8750±140 BP, possibly indicating an "endemic presence of humans." The most skeptical views discount the Palaeolithic claims:
The Clactonian material, in this view, comes from "disturbed contexts" or is a matter of interpretation of stones that could be natural or from some other time and the evidence of the Corbeddu Cave is "simply not very robust" due to "taphonomic
Taphonomy
Taphonomy is the study of decaying organisms over time and how they become fossilized . The term taphonomy was introduced to paleontology in 1940 by Russian scientist Ivan Efremov to describe the study of the transition of remains, parts, or products of organisms, from the biosphere, to the...
questions;" i.e., questions of the dates of the fossils. More important than the ambiguity about the period to which this and other material belong is the fact that even when clearly perceived and robustly dated they may not fit the archetypical Palaeolithic, Mesolithic
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
and Neolithic. A group of intermediate terms have come into use, such as pre-pottery Neolithic
Pre-Pottery Neolithic
The Pre-Pottery Neolithic represents the early Neolithic in the Levantine and upper Mesopotamian region of the Fertile Crescent. It succeeds the Natufian culture of the Epipaleolithic as the domestication of plants and animals was in its beginnings and triggered by the Younger Dryas...
, the Neolithic without its formerly diagnostic marker, the pottery.
The Pre-Neolithic therefore refers to a period before the Neolithic that either does not have all the characteristics of the Mesolithic or has a superset, the extraneous ones belonging to the Neolithic. For example, the Jomon culture of Japan is called the Pre-Neolithic because of its pottery, but it did not produce food. In the same spirit the Epipalaeolithic ("after the Palaeolithic") stands also where the Mesolithic should be.
The Mediterranean Pre-Neolithic culture lacks the microliths and fine flakes characteristic of the continental Mesolithic, which may be an alteration of the Mesolithic due to insularity. Consequently such names as "Tyrrhenian Epipalaeolithic" and "Island Mesolithic" have also been assigned. Many authors prefer the simple term Mesolithic, but the difficulty of defining it continues; for example, the famed Lady of Boniface from layer XVIIIb of Araguina-Sennola in Bonifacio, the first complete human skeleton on Corsica, has been carbon dated to 8560±150 BP or 6570±150 BC. To some she is an early Neolithic lady and to others a Pre-Neolithic one, with the Neolithic starting at either 6500 or 6000 accordingly. Dates are therefore either carbon dates or interpretational periods, which vary depending on what dates are to be included. Some sites have material from many periods, others only one.
Corsican Paleolithic
The Corsican Paleolithic occurs before 9000 BC. In the mid-1990s the first dateable site of a probable Paleolithic provenience was discovered on Corsica. Although the stone tools remain equivocal, the habitation evidence is not.- Coscia Grotto, RoglianoRogliano, Haute-CorseRogliano is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.It is the seat of Capobianco Canton, which it shares with Barrettali, Cagnano, Centuri, Ersa, Luri, Meria, Morsiglia, Pino and Tomino...
Corsican Mesolithic/Pre-Neolithic
L.J. Costa, an expert in Corsican prehistory, dates the Corsican Mesolithic (in preference to Pre-Neolithic) to 9000-6000 BC. This period is known at several sites over all of Corsica and is parallel to a similar contemporaneous culture on Sardinia. The presence of Sardinian obsidianObsidian
Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed as an extrusive igneous rock.It is produced when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimum crystal growth...
in southern Corsica (identified by chemical analysis) is believed to indicate that the Sardinians crossed over to Corsica.
The sites are:
Neolithic
The Neolithic occurs between 6000 BCE and 3000 BCE. Due to proximity and trade the western Mediterranean passed through roughly analogous cultural phases in the Neolithic. These are perhaps best defined for SardiniaSardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, a larger and better archaeologically explored island. The dating scheme in the titles below is based on a Sardinian chronology rounded to millennia.
Early
Early occurs between 6000 BCE and 5000 BCE. The Early Neolithic of Corsica comprises sites of the Cardial and Epi-Cardial CultureCardium Pottery
Cardium Pottery or Cardial Ware is a Neolithic decorative style that gets its name from the imprinting of the clay with the shell of the Cardium edulis, a marine mollusk...
s divided in time about equally between the two. The sea-faring population brought sheep, goats and pigs with them. Hunting was a minimal part of the economy. Occupation appears to have been intermittent.
The major sites are:
Middle
Middle occurs between 5000 BCE and 4000 BCE. During the "Middle Neolithic Transformation" cattle were introduced, the production of grain began and permanent villages were founded.Late
Late occurs between 4000 BCE and 3000 BCE. The Late Neolithic on Corsica and Sardinia corresponds to the early European Megalithic Culture. The monuments specifically found on Corsica are the dolmenDolmen
A dolmen—also known as a portal tomb, portal grave, dolmain , cromlech , anta , Hünengrab/Hünenbett , Adamra , Ispun , Hunebed , dös , goindol or quoit—is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of...
, the aligned stones and the menhir
Menhir
A menhir is a large upright standing stone. Menhirs may be found singly as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones. Their size can vary considerably; but their shape is generally uneven and squared, often tapering towards the top...
; however, the latter include anthropomorphic or statue-menhirs with features of the head and torso carved on the upper block. Some have taken them for stelae.
Chalcolithic
Chalcolithic occurs between 3000 BCE and 1800 BCE. The European Megalithic Culture continued into the Chalcolithic.Weapons began to be shown on the statue menhir
Menhir
A menhir is a large upright standing stone. Menhirs may be found singly as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones. Their size can vary considerably; but their shape is generally uneven and squared, often tapering towards the top...
s.
- Terrina IV, AleriaAlériaAléria is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica...
- FilitosaFilitosaFilitosa is a megalithic site in southern Corsica, France. The period of occupation spans from the end of the Neolithic era and the beginning of the Bronze Age, until around the Roman times in Corsica.-Location:...
, SollacaroSollacaroSollacaro is a commune in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the island of Corsica.-Geography:The village is located at 450 m of altitude in the Taravo valley, on the northwest side of a hill therefore there is no morning sun...
. - Strette, BarbaggioBarbaggioBarbaggio is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica. It is known for its wine, its scenery, and the prehistoric site of Strette.-Geography:...
.
Bronze Age
Bronze Age occurs between 1800 BCE and 700 BCE. The Torrean civilizationTorrean civilization
The Torrean civilization was a civilization that developed in Corsica, in the area south of Ajaccio, during the second half of the II millennium BC. The characteristic building of this culture is the "Torre" , the Corsican version of the Sardinian "Nuraghe", although the torri were smaller and less...
of the Corsican Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
is named for its torri, "towers", which are the outstanding features of building complexes - citadels perhaps - sited on the lower slopes of the mountains overlooking the coastline. The culture continued the statue menhirs of the preceding Megalithic Culture, in many cases reusing the previous ones, but now they represent warriors armed and armored with Mycenaean
Helladic period
Helladic is a modern archaeological term meant to identify a sequence of periods characterizing the culture of mainland ancient Greece during the Bronze Age. The term is commonly used in archaeology and art history...
-style daggers and swords and round shields. A few have the horned helmets diagnostically depicted in representations of the Shardana
Shardana
The Sherden are one of several groups of "Sea Peoples" who appear in fragmentary historical records for the Mediterranean region in the second millennium B.C.; little is known about them. On reliefs they are shown carrying a round shield and a long thrusting Naue II type sword...
, one of the Sea Peoples
Sea Peoples
The Sea Peoples were a confederacy of seafaring raiders of the second millennium BC who sailed into the eastern Mediterranean, caused political unrest, and attempted to enter or control Egyptian territory during the late 19th dynasty and especially during year 8 of Ramesses III of the 20th Dynasty...
of the eastern Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
.
Torréen society was armed, metallurgical and international. During that time the island manufactured and exported bronze ingots and artifacts that have turned up elsewhere in the Mediterranean.
The torri appear to be miniature versions of the contemporaneous nuraghes found on Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
. The Nuraghes Culture
Nuragic civilization
The Nuragic civilization was a civilization of Sardinia, lasting from the Bronze Age to the 2nd century AD. The name derives from its most characteristic monuments, the nuraghe. They consist of tower-fortresses, built starting from about 1800 BC...
lived a way of life indistinguishable from that of the Torréen. Both were bronze-making warrior societies. The name of Sardinia almost certainly came from the name of the Shardana people. Analogous but more on the scale of the Corsican torri are the talayots of the Balearic Islands
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
and the sesi of Pantelleria
Pantelleria
Pantelleria , the ancient Cossyra, is an Italian island in the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, southwest of Sicily and just east of the Tunisian coast. Administratively Pantelleria is a comune belonging to the Sicilian province of Trapani...
.
Torréen, Nuraghes and Shardana appear to be interrelated; however, the relationships remain ambiguous. It is not known whether the Shardana were from Sardinia or from somewhere else, such as Sardis
Sardis
Sardis or Sardes was an ancient city at the location of modern Sart in Turkey's Manisa Province...
, and settled in Sardinia. The earliest nuraghi were constructed far back in the Neolithic; i.e., they appear to be a development of the Megalithic Culture. The torri on the one hand represent something new in Corsica; on the other hand, the associated statue menhirs evolved from those of the Neolithic. It can be argued that the reuse of the menhirs suggests a population influx, but the argument depends on an unknown implied taboo against reusing old menhirs. These issues remain open.
Some sites are:
Iron Age (700-100 BC)
Iron Age occurs between 700 BCE and 100 BCE.- AleriaAlériaAléria is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica...
:- Etruscan necropolis, 6th-3rd centuries BC
- Roman town, 1st century BC -
- Bonifacio:
- Roman villa, 1st century AD -
- Luri:
- Castellu di Luri, Roman castellum occupied 3rd century BC - 1st century AD