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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2008

Simon Stoddart ,
Anthony Bonanno ,
Tancred Gouder ,
Caroline Malone  and
David Trump
Simon Stoddart
Affiliation:
Department of Classics & Archaeology11 Woodland RoadBristol BS8 1TB
Anthony Bonanno
Affiliation:
Department of Classics & ArchaeologyUniversity of MaltaMsida Malta
Tancred Gouder
Affiliation:
National Museum of ArchaeologyAuberge de ProvenceRepublic Street Valletta Malta
Caroline Malone
Affiliation:
Department of Classics & Archaeology11 Woodland RoadBristol BS8 1TB
David Trump
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge Board of Continuing EducationMadingley Hall Madingley Cambridge CB3 8AQ
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Extract

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.

Type
Articles
Information
Cambridge Archaeological Journal , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , April 1993 , pp. 3 - 19
Copyright
Copyright © The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research 1993

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