Archaeological site called the Monte Revincu à Santo-Pietro-di-Tenda

Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The archaeological site of Monte Revincu, located in the municipality of Santo-Pietro-di-Tenda in the Agriates Desert in Corsica, is a major prehistoric complex. It includes megalithic funerary monuments (dolmens, chests) and remains of a Neolithic habitat, spread over a plateau of more than 300 metres. The dolmens were first reported in 1883 by Adrien de Mortillet, who mentioned at least four structures, including the dolmen de la Casa di l'Orcu. Until 1999, the site was occupied by a military range, limiting its study.

Systematic excavations, led by Franck Leandri for DRAC from 1996, revealed a complex organization: three dolmens, three authenticated chests (and seven probable), three stone circles, one menhir and 36 rectangular structures. The materials used, orthognesis and local granite, were extracted and cut into slabs thanks to the natural sheeting of the rock. The monuments, dated between the fifth and fourth millennia BC, show an architectural unit marked by rectangular plans and erect slabs.

The dolmen of the Casa di l'Orcu, partially destroyed by clandestine excavations and shell fire in the 1950s, delivers modest furniture: fragments of flint blades, quartz, obsidian, and polished ceramic teasses dated from the end of the fifth millennium BC. According to local tradition, this dolmen is the "house of the ogre", linked to a folk tale explaining the origin of the brocciu. Other structures, such as the Cellucia dolmen or the A, B and C chests, reveal similar artifacts, including chalcolithic arrow frames.

The habitat structures, located on the Cima di Suarello, are rectangular platforms (25 to 130 m2) bounded by planted slabs. They were home to domestic activities, as evidenced by stone radiers, pole holes and traces of perishable material walls. Archaeological furniture, poor in polished tools but rich in local quartz and fragmented ceramics, suggests an occupation dated between 4340 and 4073 BC. The site, classified as a historic monument in 2018, offers unique insights into funeral practices and neolithic habitat in Corsica.

The site was used until the beginning of the 20th century by shepherds who built sheepfolds and enclosures there. The excavations also revealed stone circles, such as that of 20 meters in diameter with a central monolith, and menhirs, one still standing near the dolmen of Cellucia. Radiocarbon dating confirms a major occupation during the last third of the fifth millennium BC, with subsequent re-uses at Chalcolithic.

Fully ranked in 2018 after a first registration in 2016, Monte Revincu is now protected for its heritage importance. Studies conducted by Franck Leandri and his team have documented a key site for understanding Corsican neolithic societies, their funeral rites and their spatial organization. Oral tradition, evoking ogres and symbolic exchanges, adds an immaterial cultural dimension to this exceptional archaeological heritage.

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