Provenance studies of Corsican siliceous raw materials used during, the Neolithic focused mainly on obsidian. They showed an almost systematic use of Monte Arci sources (Sardinia). Chert studies have long been dodged, whereas the multiplicity of potential origins, in Sardinia and in continental areas, may provide complementary spatial information about diffusion patterns and interaction phenomenon in the Middle Tyrrhenian during the Neolithic. We studied obsidian and chert industries of three Corsican sites: Renaghju (Early Neolithic), Monte Revincu and Vasculacciu (both Middle Neolithic). In order to assign a provenance, 2241 chert archaeological samples were characterized by petrographic approaches and 100 obsidian artefacts were submitted to geochemical analyses. Each site provides a specific trend regarding relative abundances of raw materials, provenance and consumption patterns. Considered in the wider perspective of the Neolithic Corsican context, results reveal procurement variations from a chronological as well as a geographical point of view. Those variations may echo economic and social evolutions undergone in Neolithic societies of the Tyrrhenian area.Les études de provenance des matériaux siliceux employés en Corse au Néolithique se sont principalement focalisées sur l’obsidienne, montrant quasi systématiquement une utilisation des sources du Monte Arci (Sardaigne). Cependant, l’identification de l’origine du silex, compte tenu de la diversité des sources potentielles distribuées en Sardaigne et sur le continent, peut apporter des informations spatiales complémentaires sur les phénomènes de circulation et de diffusion. L’origine de ces matériaux lithiques importés en Corse a été déterminée par des approches pétrographiques (2241 échantillons de silex) et géochimiques (100 échantillons d’obsidienne), pour trois sites en cours d’étude : Renaghju (Corse-du-Sud), daté du Néolithique ancien, Vasculacciu (Corse-du-Sud) et Monte Revincu (Haute-Corse), datés du Néolithique moyen. Mis en perspective avec d’autres analyses disponibles par ailleurs, les résultats révèlent sur un plan chronologique (Néolithique ancien et moyen) et géographique (Nord et Sud) des variations d’approvisionnements en terme de nature et d’origine des matériaux. Ces variations reflètent les évolutions économiques et sociales rythmant les premières sociétés néolithiques de l’aire tyrrhénienne

A multidisciplinary study (geomorphology, sedimentology and palynology) shows that the landscapes of the southwest coast of Corsica have been deeply modified by humans and the climate since 3000 BC. Significant and rapid landscape transformations are recorded between the Chalcolithic and the Middle Bronze Ages (3000–1300 BC). Several major (2.2 ka BC, 1.2 ka BC) and local (3000 BC) detrital events affected the Taravo Lower Valley in relation to global climatic changes and anthropic activities. The vegetation dynamics since 3000 BC show alternating phases of agriculture and abandonment until the complete disappearance of the original forest populations in the vicinity of the Canniccia Marshes. An early phase of Olea cultivation is recorded between 2900 and 2300 BC. Plant macro-remains indicate that cereals, vine and many species of Fabaceae were cultivated in the nearby of the archaeological sites during the middle to the late Chalcolithic Age. The event of 2.2 ka BC corresponds to an abandonment phase in the lower Taravo Valley. Pastoralism dominated agricultural activities between 2200 and 1700 BC. During Roman times, agriculture is characterized by olive and vine cultivation. A new peak of pastoralism and the cultivation of Castanea are noted during invasion times (500 to 1000 AD), showing that invasions didn’t disturb agricultural activities in the Taravo Valley. During the Pisa Period (end of the 9th C. to then end of 13th C. AD), pastoralism declined and vine and cereals were cultivated in the very nearby of the Canniccia Marshes. During the Genoa Period upwards (end of the 13th C. to 1769 AD), a decline in agriculture and a recrudescence of the forest (maquis and pine) are recorded, leading to the settlement of a present-day vegetal landscape dominated by an Erica arborea maquis.

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