Seven ages of antiquity in Malta

Abstract

The first settlers, who could see the Maltese Islands from their homeland in Sicily, came to both Malta and Gozo with. their domestic animals, chattels and seeds, seeking a more fertile area for cultivation about 4700 B.C. Their first homes were in large caves. Subsequently, they formed villages of small rubble huts on ridges and plateaus above the fields they cultivated. They established limited trade with not only Sicily but also the Lipari Islands and Pantelleria from which they obtained flint and obsidian in exchange for wool and possibly a rough woollen cloth. There was a natural development during the 1,500 years identified with the Neolithic Age, as evidenced by their pottery after 3600 B.C. which corresponded to the Diana were of the final neolithic period in Sicily. [excerpt]