Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The alignments of Renaghju and I Stantari, located in the municipality of Sartène in South Corsica, form an exceptional megalithic ensemble. The site, occupied as early as the ancient Neolithic (5700-5000 B.C.), reveals traces of earth habitat, stone fireplaces and flint cutting plants. Ceramics decorated with a cardium bear witness to cultural ties with Sardinia and Tuscany.

The site has 178 monoliths, resulting from two construction phases. A first alignment, dated the second half of the fifth millennium BC, includes 64 menhirs of crude granite, organized in north-west/south-east lines. A second monument, probably built at the end of the Neolithic or early Bronze Age, includes 50 large menhirs (up to 3.20 m), partially reusing the small menhirs of the first alignment as setting.

Among the notable discoveries is a statue-menhir, Rinaiu I, representing a character armed with a sword, now altered. The site, searched clandestinely and studied scientifically between 1994 and 2002, was classified as a historical monument in 1975. The excavations revealed a central pit and remains of ceramics, confirming continued occupation until the end of Bronze Age.

Menhirs, mostly raw, sometimes have proto-anthropomorphic forms, according to Roger Grosjean's classification. Their arrangement in parallel or curved lines recalls other corse alignments, such as those of I Stantari or Pallaghju. A megalithic chest, now destroyed, once completed the whole.

The site was first described in 1883 by Adrien de Mortillet under the name of Caouria's alignment, at which time there were 32 menhirs. Recent studies, conducted by André D.

External links