Filitosa is a

megalithic A megalith is a large Rock (geology), stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging ...

site in southern

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The period of occupation spans from the end of the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

era and the beginning of the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, until around the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

times in Corsica.

Location

The site lies on road D57, a few hundred metres from the hamlet of Filitosa, west of Sollacaro, in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

of Petreto-Bicchisano,

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, and certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissem ...

Sartène Sartène (; ; or ) is a commune in the department of Corse-du-Sud on the island of Corsica, France. Its history dates back to medieval times and granite buildings from the early 16th century still line some of the streets. One of the ma ...

, north of

Propriano Propriano (; , ) is a commune in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the island of Corsica. It is situated on the Valinco Gulf. Population Transport * Railway stations in Corsica - stillborn branch See also * Communes of ...

in the

Corse-du-Sud Corse-du-Sud (; , or ; ) is (as of 2019) an administrative department of France, consisting of the southern part of the island of Corsica. The corresponding departmental territorial collectivity merged with that of Haute-Corse on 1 January ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

''. It is located on a hill, overlooking the

Taravo The Taravo () is a river on the island of Corsica, France. It is long. Its source is in the mountainous middle of the island, southeast of Monte Renoso. It flows generally southwest, through Palneca, Cozzano and Guitera-les-Bains. It ends in t ...

valley.

Site history and features

The site was discovered in 1946 by the owner of the land, Charles-Antoine Cesari, and brought to the attention of archeologists by the British writer,

Dorothy Carrington Frederica Dorothy Violet Carrington, Lady Rose, MBE (6 June 1910 – 26 January 2002) was an expatriate British writer domiciled for over half her life in Corsica. She was one of the twentieth century's leading scholars on the island's culture a ...

(see her masterpiece, ''Granite Island: Portrait of Corsica'',). Systematic excavations started in 1954 by

Roger Grosjean Roger Grosjean (25 July 1920 – 7 June 1975) was a French Air Force pilot, a double agent during World War II, and one of the founding fathers of Corsican prehistoric archaeology. Early life Grosjean was born in Chalon-sur-Saône, the son of Jos ...

. Finds of arrow heads and pottery date earliest inhabitation to 3300 BC. Around 1500 BC, 2-3 metre

menhir A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the European middle Br ...

s were erected. They have been carved with representations of human faces, armour and weapons.

thought the menhirs may have been erected to ward off an invasion of a group of people called the ''Torréens'' ( Torreans). However this was unsuccessful: the menhirs were cast down, broken up and reused in some cases as building material by the ''Torréens''. The ''Torréens'' built circular stone structures on the site, known as '' torri'' (or ''torre''), which may have been used as temples. The ''torri'' are remarkably well preserved. This theory had been disputed by later works of F. De Lanfranchi, M.C. Weiss and

Gabriel Camps Gabriel Camps (May 20, 1927 – September 6, 2002) was a French archaeologist and social anthropologist, the founder of the '' Encyclopédie berbère'' and is considered a prestigious scholar on the history of the Berber people. Biography G ...

.CORSICA Enciclopedia dell' Arte Antica (1994)
/ref> In total, about twenty menhirs of various times were counted in Filitosa. They constitute approximately half of the total staff of these monuments in Corsica.

Layout

The site of Filitosa is approached down a track through an ancient

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

grove. The first monument to be seen is a rock overhang and surrounding wall. Then the visitor comes upon the central monument. Various hut platforms are all around, and the track leads a further 50m to the Western Monument or ''torri''. From there, one can enjoy a view down the hill to a stone alignment of five megaliths, set around the base of a 2000-year-old olive tree. Behind the olive tree is the

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

from which the megaliths were extracted.

References

External links

Pictures

Filitosa official website
{{Authority control Bronze Age Europe Buildings and structures in Corse-du-Sud Megalithic monuments in France Archaeological sites in Corsica Former populated places in France Tourist attractions in Corse-du-Sud