Périods
The “island mesolithic”.
9000 > 6000 B.C.
The proximity of a fertile plain, that of the Taravo river, the presence of a mound that can be easily developed and the numerous rock shelters used as a habitat will predispose the site to a very long occupation. Excavations of the superimposed ground levels have shown that Filitosa preserves the traces of this very long occupation, extending from the 6th millennium BC to the Roman period.
Ancient neolithic
5800 > 4900 B.C.
Research carried out in a rock shelter places the beginning of the occupation of the site in the 6th millennium, which corresponds to the Early Neolithic period. At that time the population was small. It lived exclusively by hunting, fishing and gathering. The group uses wooden or hard rock tools such as flint or obsidian. The presence in Filitosa of this black volcanic rock is even more remarkable than the obsidian does not exist in its natural state in Corsica. It has to be imported, probably from Monte Arci in Sardinia. The ceramic remains from this period show an original decoration. The potter decorates the wall of the vase with the rim of the valve of a shell, often the cardium shell.
Middle Neolithic
4900 > 3900 B.C.
Shards of pottery with cardium shell decoration are associated in the same level with fragments decorated before firing with a punch or watermelon. A discreet presence of Bastian ceramics indicates that the site was used in the Middle Neolithic period. The emergence of the first stones erected as funerary stelae, the first menhirs, simple blocks of stone, poorly worked and unpolished, set vertically in the ground, can be seen.
Late Neolithic
3900 > 3100 B.C.
In the late Neolithic the increase of the Corsican population is general. It is due to the generalization of agricultural practices. The numerous mobile millstones and wheels found on the site attest to this. The spur of Filitosa is occupied by shepherds and farmers. Late Neolithic society dominates its environment and is slowly becoming organised. In Europe, monuments made up of large blocks of stone, rough and poorly roughened, began to be built.
Antique Bronze
2200 > 1650 B.C.
Appearance of the bronze axe, a rare and sought-after tool, and of fine polished crockery from local traditions (handle cups, plates, vases, lids).
Medium Bronze
1650 > 1350 B.C.
Construction of villages perched on powerful walls, the “castelli” and appearance of the first “torre” dominating dwellings protected by an enclosure. This period saw profound productive changes linked to the use and improvement of metallurgy.
Recent Bronze
1350 > 1150 B.C.
This stage marks the appearance of the first alignments of menhirs, the arrival of armed statue-menhirs as well as the restructuring of the “torre”.
