Farming and village life spread westward around the Mediterranean after developing earlier in Southwest Asia. This larger movement created the conditions for people to reach islands like Sardinia and Corsica by sea, carrying domesticated plants and animals and new kinds of pottery.
Early Neolithic groups along Mediterranean coasts used boats to move people, ideas, and materials. Pottery styles made by pressing tools or shells into wet clay (often called “impressed ware”) spread through maritime contact networks, showing how coast-to-coast travel supported colonization and exchange.
At the Curacchiaghiu rock shelter in southern Corsica, Early Neolithic layers (6th millennium BCE) include pottery and stone tools. Finds also include obsidian imported from Sardinia, pointing to early sea crossings and exchange between the two islands.
By the early 5th millennium BCE, Sardinia had established Middle Neolithic communities identified archaeologically as the Bonu Ighinu culture. Evidence includes farming and herding (for example, cereals and domestic animals) and changing burial practices, showing more settled island life.
In the later 5th millennium BCE, the San Ciriaco phase shows continued farming and craft specialization in Sardinia. Archaeological evidence points to intensified use of Monte Arci obsidian and long-distance contacts, helping explain how island societies maintained regional ties.
Genomic research on ancient Sardinian individuals dated to the Neolithic (about 5700–3400 BCE) finds strong affinity to early European farmer populations. These results support the idea that Neolithic settlement involved people connected to mainland farming expansions, followed by periods of relative genetic continuity on the island.
From about the 4th to 3rd millennia BCE, the Arzachena culture occupied Gallura (northeast Sardinia) and part of southern Corsica. Its distinctive megalithic burial monuments and material culture show close cross-strait links, making the Bonifacio strait a key corridor between the islands.
At Monte d’Accoddi in northern Sardinia, a large raised stone platform (often interpreted as an altar or temple) was constructed, with the oldest parts dated roughly to 4000–3650 BCE. Its construction shows coordinated labor and shared ritual practices that went beyond everyday household needs.
The Li Muri necropolis in Gallura includes stone cists surrounded by stone circles and is dated to the second half of the 4th millennium BCE. The monument type and burial pattern differ from many collective tombs elsewhere in Sardinia and show similarities with contemporary sites in Corsica and nearby regions.
From the 5th to 3rd millennia BCE, many Sardinian communities created rock-cut chamber tombs called domus de janas (“fairy houses”). These collective burial spaces, often carved to resemble houses, reflect growing social organization and shared beliefs about ancestors and the afterlife.
At Filitosa in southern Corsica, archaeological finds indicate occupation beginning in the late Neolithic, with an early habitation date around 3300 BCE. The site later became well known for its megaliths and changing use over time, illustrating how Corsican communities built durable ritual and settlement places.
The Ozieri (San Michele) culture, dated about 3200–2800 BCE, is often described as the high point of Sardinia’s Neolithic period. It is associated with widespread settlement evidence and rich material culture, and its influence extended beyond Sardinia, including connections with nearby Corsica.
Across the later 4th and 3rd millennia BCE, Sardinia’s domus de janas and related necropolises continued to be used and expanded, spanning the late Neolithic into the Copper Age. This continuity shows that communities adapted new technologies and social changes while maintaining long-lived burial traditions.
In the second half of the second millennium BCE, the Torrean civilization developed in southern Corsica. Its stone towers (torri) and fortified sites (castelli) show a shift toward more defensible architecture and new social organization, marking a clear break from earlier Neolithic settlement patterns.
Peopling of Sardinia and Corsica during the Neolithic (c. 6,000–3,000 BCE)