Timeline

Heritage classified

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Origin and history

Araguina-Sennola rock shelter, located in Bonifacio, South Corsica, is a major prehistoric site accidentally discovered during construction. Occupied with the Mesolithic in modern times (with a medieval interruption), it delivered 53 stratigraphic layers over 6 metres thick, revealing traces of seasonal habitat and burials. The limestone sediment has allowed an exceptional conservation of human and animal remains, including the mesolithic skeleton of the Lady of Bonifacio (c. 6500 BC), one of the oldest burials known in Corsica.

The Lady of Bonifacio, exhumed in 1972 by archaeologists François de Lanfranchi and Michel-Claude Weiss, is now exhibited at the Alta Rocca Museum in Levi. The site, classified as a historical monument in 1988, was transferred to the Territorial Community of Corsica. Its intermittent occupation in the Mesolithic and Neolithic suggests use as a winter refuge, while more recent burials have also been identified.

Located along Sylvère-Bohn Avenue, the site has an in situ explanatory panel. Its rich stratigraphy and its remains (tools, bones) make it a key testimony of the prehistoric lifestyles in Corsica, from mesolithic nomadism to the early Neolithic societies. The interruption of occupation in the High Middle Ages remains a mystery, contrasting with its subsequent reuse until the modern era.

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