David Trump

Cult in an Island Society: Prehistoric Malta in the Tarxien Period

This paper examines the cult practices of the Tarxien period on Malta (c. 3000–c. 2500 BC) within the wider context of island societies. A model of ritual organization is developed which emphasizes the isolation of Malta during the major phases of temple building. A comparison is made between two pairs of sites each comprising a temple and burial component, Tarxien and Hal Saflieni, Ggantija and the Brochtorff Circle. A more detailed comparison is made between the more recently excavated examples: the Tarxien temple and the Brochtorff Circle mortuary complex. The latter is the subject on an ongoing Anglo-Maltese project directed by the authors. The analysis moves in turn from the constituent units (or modules) of which these sites are composed, to their overall configuration, and finally to their place in the landscape and to the place of Malta in the central Mediterranean.

Skorba, Malta and the Mediterranean

Professor Bernabo Brea, in his review of Professor J. D. Evanss Malta (ANTIQUITY, 1960, 132), did not dispute the sequence of cultures there described, but he questioned the interpretation of this sequence in three important particulars, namely, the continuity between the first (Għar Dalam) and later phases of Evanss sequence, the absolute chronology of the Neolithic period, and thirdly the role which Malta played in the prehistory of the Central and West Mediterranean. These three criticisms were met by Evans (ANTIQUITY, 1960, 218) and now Dr D. H. Trump, Curator of Archaeology in the Malta Museum, discusses all these problems in relation to his recent excavations at Skorba .