Malta, Prehistory and Temples

Malta, Prehistory and Temples
Author: David H. Trump
Publisher:
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2002
Genre: History
ISBN:

The large stone temple structures on Malta are amongst the earliest such constructions in the world, long before the pyramids were built in Egypt. This super book forms a pictorial record of all the temples on Malta, whilst also providing background information on the social and cultural history of the period. Built between c.3500 and 2500 BC, the temples reflect, and were part of, a period of great development on Malta and Gozo, especially in artistic and architectural terms. This is a clear, well illustrated account of the temple-building period, as well as of what went before and what came after.

Malta Before History

Malta Before History
Author: Daniel Cilia
Publisher:
Total Pages: 440
Release: 2004
Genre: Antiquities, Prehistoric
ISBN: 9789990985085

Temple Places

Temple Places
Author: Caroline Malone
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2020-12-31
Genre:
ISBN: 9781913344023

The ERC-funded FRAGSUS Project (Fragility and sustainability in small island environments: adaptation, culture change and collapse in prehistory, 2013-18) led by Caroline Malone (Queen's University Belfast) has focused on the unique Temple Culture of Neolithic Malta, and its antecedents and successors through investigation of archaeological sites and monuments. This, the second volume of three, presents the results of excavations at four temple sites and two settlements, together with analysis of chronology, economy and material culture. The project focused on the integration of three key strands of Malta's early human history (environmental change, human settlement and population) set against a series of questions that interrogated how human activity impacted on the changing natural environment and resources, which in turn impacted on the Neolithic populations. The evidence from early sites together with the human story preserved in burial remains reveals a dynamic and creative response over millennia. The scenario that emerges implies settlement from at least the mid-sixth millennium bc, with extended breaks in occupation, depopulation and environmental stress coupled with episodes of recolonization in response to changing economic, social and environmental opportunities. Excavation at the temple site of Santa Verna (Gozo) revealed an occupation earlier than any previously dated site on the islands, whilst geophysical and geoarchaeological study at the nearby temple of Ġgantija revealed a close relationship with a spring, Neolithic soil management, and evidence for domestic and economic activities within the temple area. A targeted excavation at the temple of Skorba (Malta) revisited the chronological questions that were first revealed at the site over 50 years ago, with additional OSL and AMS sampling. The temple site of Kordin III (Malta) was explored to identify the major phases of occupation and to establish the chronology, a century after excavations first revealed the site. Settlement archaeology has long been problematic in Malta, overshadowed by the megalithic temples, but new work at the site of Taċ-Ċawla (Gozo) has gathered significant economic and structural evidence revealing how subsistence strategies supported agricultural communities in early Malta. A study of the second millennium bc Bronze Age site of In-Nuffara (Gozo) likewise has yielded significant economic and chronological information that charts the declining and changing environment of Malta in late prehistory.

Malta and Gozo

Malta and Gozo
Author: Juliet Rix
Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides
Total Pages: 372
Release: 2013
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1841624527

Malta has long been known for package holidays but this island nation has 7,000 years of fascinating and visible history. Updated throughout, this new edition delves into Malta's temples and archaeology more comprehensively than any other guidebook. Packed with historical and archaeological facts it also showcases bird-watching and wildlife opportunities, summer festas, and the less commercialised islands of Gozo and Comino. With new hotels opening in Birgu and across the islands the guide includes greater coverage of accommodation and restaurants. There is more to the island than sun and sea and this guide will help readers to discover the Malta beyond the tourist resorts.

The Archaeology of Malta

The Archaeology of Malta
Author: Claudia Sagona
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 471
Release: 2015-08-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 1107006694

This book synthesizes the archaeology of the Maltese archipelago from the first human colonization c. 5000 BC through the Roman period (c. 400 AD). Claudia Sagona interprets the archaeological record to explain changing social and political structures, intriguing ritual practices, and cultural contact through several millennia.

Malta

Malta
Author: M. D. Chambry
Publisher:
Total Pages: 240
Release: 1978
Genre: Gozo Island (Malta)
ISBN:

Cult in Context

Cult in Context
Author: Caroline Malone
Publisher: Oxbow Books
Total Pages: 1043
Release: 2010-04-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1782974962

Gods, deities, symbolism, deposition, cosmology and intentionality are all features of the study of early ritual and cult. Archaeology has great difficulties in providing satisfactory interpretation or recognition of these elusive but important parts of ancient society, and methodologies are often poorly equipped to explore the evidence. This collection of papers explores a wide range of prehistoric and early historic archaeological contexts from Britain, Europe and beyond, where monuments, architectural structures, megaliths, art, caves, ritual activity and symbolic remains offer exciting glimpses into ancient belief systems and cult behaviour. Different theoretical and practical approaches are demonstrated, offering both new directions and considered conclusions to the many problems of studying the archaeology of cult and ritual. Central to the volume is an exploration of early Malta and its intriguing Temple Culture, set in a broad perspective by the discussion and theoretical approaches presented in different geographical and chronological contexts.

Malta

Malta
Author: Anthony Bonanno
Publisher:
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2005
Genre: History
ISBN:

Supported by numerous colour photographs by Daniel Cilia, this well-presented book surveys the archaeological heritage of Malta, focusing on the classical period rather than the island's more celebrated prehistoric past. Photographs, plans and reconstruction drawings present archaeological sites, tombs, coins, ceramics, artworks, extraordinary objects and other items from everyday life, dating to the Phoenician, Punic and Roman periods in turn, representing 1,500 years of history. Bonanno's narrative discusses this material evidence and considers what it reveals about the identity, culture, interaction, funerary beliefs, economy and government of Malta's rulers. The physical organisation of the island is explored through maps while inscriptions are examined as sources for religion and administration. Significant archaeological remains survive from these periods, including towns, villas and harbours, demonstrating the significance of Malta within the Mediterranean as a major trading stop. This book provides an invaluable guide to that heritage.