The use of raw earth in the Late Neolithic (3800-2350 BCE) and Early Bronze Age (2350-1500 BCE) funerary contexts in the Maltese Islands / L’usage de la terre crue dans les contextes funéraires maltais au Néolithique final (3800-2350 av. n. è.) et au Bronze ancien (2350-1500 av. n. è.)

Abstract

This is the first discussion ever on the subject of earthen architecture in funerary context in the Maltese Islands between the Late Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age in spite of the scanty evidence of such use in the respective archaeological record. Two separate and contrasting situations characterise these two episodes of Maltese prehistory with respect to funerary ritual. The Late Neolithic (3800-2350 BCE) has left us two major subterranean cemeteries for collective inhumation: one cut in a relatively soft rock, the other one making use of a naturally formed system of underground caves. In both cases raw earth was utilized to cover primary and secondary burials. Around 2350 BCE this extraordinary culture is replaced by a new Bronze Age culture characterised by the disposal of the dead through cremation. The matrix for the cremated human remains now consists of a thick layer of dark ashy earth. This paper discusses the different raw earth matrices and any possible hints of other raw earth uses, including clay figurines.