and what survives. The opening of this work sets out the plan to classify Corsican monuments by epoch and begins with a rapid, sober history of the island from early contacts (Greeks, Etruscans, Carthaginians) through Rome, Arab raids, Pisan rule, and Genoese domination. Mérimée then documents pre-Roman remains—dolmens (stazzone) and standing stones (stantare) in the Taravo, Rizzanese, and Cauria valleys—recording measurements, features like carved runnels, local names and legends, and comparing them to Breton and English megaliths while pondering Celtic or Ligurian links (even glancing at physiognomy and dialect). He notes urn burials near Ajaccio and a crude gaine-shaped “idol” at Apricciani, and stresses the absence of Phoenician, Etruscan, or Sardinian-style monuments. Roman evidence proves scant and mostly at Aleria and Mariana; rough structures dubbed the Sala Reale and a small “cirque” may even be Moorish restorations rather than Roman. Brief notices on a granite quarry at Cavallo, slab-built tombs near Figari, and one late antique sarcophagus in Bonifacio lead into his transition toward assessing medieval churches. (This is an automatically generated summary.)