Rock tombs in Malta
The rock tombs in Malta are on the main island and on Gozo . Most of them are with Mistra in Malta . The complexes are temporal and formal forerunners of the Maltese temples and come from the Mġarr and Ġgantija phases.
The six tombs of Xemxija are the oldest complex of this type. They are architecturally designed, with a curved floor plan, pilasters and indicated apses . Today the caves can be reached via vertical holes cut in the ground. The rock tombs of Xemxija were excavated in 1950 by John Davis Evans and were one of the few undestroyed complex finds, most of which came from the Ggantija phase. Animal bones show which animal species existed on the islands in the Neolithic . However, shards from the much later Tarxien phase were also recovered. Some burials from the subsequent Bronze Age (from around 2000 BC) were found together with ax amulets .
Stages of Maltese Culture
- Żebbuġ phase 4th millennium
- 1st phase of the temple culture Mġarr phase
- 2nd phase of the temple culture Ġgantija phase
- 3rd phase of the temple culture Tarxien phase (around 2500 BC )
- Tarxien Cemetery Phase - Bur Mghez rock tombs
Locations
Maltese rock tombs have not only been worked in the soft globigerines - limestone z. B. in:
- Buqana (1 destroyed), Busbisija (1 destroyed), Kerċem (discovered in 2009), Ta 'Vnezja (1 destroyed), Żebbuġ (5 destroyed),
- There are also rock chambers in the hard coral limestone :
- Brochtorff Circle , Nadur (1), Wied tax-Xlendi (1), Xagħra (1) and Xemxija (6), including the Ghar Il-Midfna (Ghar = cave).
Other rock tombs of the temple culture have been partially or completely absorbed in complexes that were laid out from the Bronze Age to early Christianity. Above all, the Roman and early Christian catacombs ( Rabat ) have changed the tombs of temple culture beyond recognition.
See also
literature
- Joachim von Freeden: Malta and the architecture of its megalithic temples. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1993, ISBN 3-534-11012-9 .
- John Davis Evans: The prehistoric antiquities of the Maltese Islands. A survey. Athlone Press, London 1971, ISBN 0-485-11093-8 .