The Neolithic temples of Malta The Neolithic temples of Malta

Malta is a small island on the Mediterranean standing at only 243 square

kilometers, but its historical importance is far greater then its size
This island !as first settled in the Neolithic time period and still to this day
archeologists are finding bones, fire remains and pottery "t first ne!comers
!ould stay in ca#es then as time !ent on huts made of sticks, branches,
trees, clay and mud, it took about a thousand years for the first temple to pop
up Today !ere only left !ith the mere skeleton of !hat once used to be
glorious temples !ith roofs and paintings and sculptures No! all !e see is
the outline of hat is left, !hich is too bad $n total theres %& temples on the
islands of Malta and 'ozo (e#en smaller island beside Malta) There is no
pattern to their location, archeologists say the reason for this is that some
ha#e been destroyed and others still ha#e to be found Most of these temples
ha#e the same design for e*ample+ a central hall!ay that leads to t!o or
more kidney shaped rooms !ith a small,altered apse at the end of it The
outside consists of huge boulders made of stone that ha#e been placed on
their side to reach their designated height The cracks in the inner !alls
!here the stones !ould meet !ere completely sealed off !ith earth to keep
out the !ind and !ater The inner !alls also had another layer inside the
stones made of coralline blocks or !ell cut slabs The temples roof !as
probably co#ered !ith beams birch,!ood and clay, its been pro#en that the
sides could not ha#e supported a stone roof The only t!o limestones used
in the making of these buildings !ere the hard gray coralline limestone and
the soft pale globigerina limestone They used these because they !ere most
accessible in the area
The people of Malta at this time made a great change from !en they !ere
first settled till their end They taught themsel#es ho! to cook food,
domesticate animals and gro! crops They had such tools as hammers,
!edges, scrapers, hand,a*es and kni#es The Maltese people !ould ha#e
probably parished if they !erent situated on such a temperate island !ith a
#ast ocean !ere they could catch as many fish as needed