The World Is Changed: Insularity and Tyrrhenian Connectivity during Corsican Iron Ages

Résumé fourni par la source

‘No man is an island’, wrote John Donne in his famous poem arguing against isolationism. But what about being an island in a connected and multipolar world? This chapter explores such a situation. The last few decades have seen a marked shift in the perception of Bronze and Iron Age Corsica in the context of the Tyrrhenian Sea, where external connections had previously been seen to be limited to Alalia/Aleria. The recent analyses of existing data from economic areas, settlements, various kinds of craftsmanship, mines, and metal artefacts, coupled with new metallurgical data from neighbouring regions (Etruria, Elba, and Phoenician settlements), have raised significant questions about the role of Corsican communities in the dynamic Tyrrhenian landscape between the fourth and third centuries bce. Indeed, an increasing number of archaeological surveys relating to the Iron Age have occurred since 2000, as well as the revisiting of previous findings and data from former work (mostly unpublished), which have shed new light on these insular, yet not isolated, societies. Moreover, the current globalization of scientific thinking has played a significant role in the development of new approaches (including such scholars as Rainbird, Purcell, and Horden). As a result, innovative perspectives about the concepts of fragmentation and Mediterranean connectivity have been offered. This chapter aims to explore these issues in relation to Corsica through the investigation of material and immaterial transmission.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.