Malta's Megalithic Temples (4100-2500 BCE)

(Jan. 12, 2023) Malta was settled  about 5000 BC as indicated by materials which could be carbon-14 dated acquired from alongside a wall  at Skorba. From the start the settlers were fully agricultural showing no signs of hunting and gathering activity. They raised various cereal crops along with sheep, goat, cattle and pigs. These were not native to the islands and so must have arrived with the settlers. Other long distance sea voyages are evidenced by the 8000 BC obsidian trade between mainland Greece and the island of Melos. This was an open water distance of about 100 km (45 miles) which is roughly the same distance as Malta to Sicily.

The earliest pottery on Malta consists of an impressed ware that was virtually identical that used in Sicily.  Overseas contacts were maintained throughout the Neolithic with obsidian from the Lipari Islands  north of Sicily and from Pantelleria, an island lying between Sicily and Tunisia. However, the amounts involved were quite small and contact seems to have diminished over time.

The Megalithic Temples of Malta (Ġgantija, Ħaġar Qim, Mnajdra, Skorba, Ta’ Ħaġrat and Tarxien) are prehistoric monumental buildings constructed during the 4th millennium BC and the 3rd millennium BC. They rank amongst the earliest free-standing stone buildings in the world and were built similarly to Dolmens.

 The interiors of the buildings are formed of semi-circular chambers usually referred to as apses, symmetrically arranged on either side of the main axis. The number of apses varies from building to building. Some have three apses opening off the central court, while others have successive courts with four, five, and in one case even six apses.

The earliest interiors were plastered and painted with red ochre, the color of life. Later interiors were decorated with intricately carved spirals on steps and altars, friezes of farm animals, fish and snakes, and a simple pattern of pitted dots. Still evident are wall sockets for wooden barriers or curtains and niches for ritual activities.

The temple builders used locally available limestone. They used hard coralline limestone for external walls and the softer globigerina limestone for the more sheltered interiors and decorated elements.

Around 2500 BCE Malta was invaded by the Indo-Europeans  and their Druid culture was extinguished. 

Information from: https://www.odysseyadventures.ca/articles/malta_temples