Temple megalithism vs funerary megalithism : the case of the Maltese Islands

Abstract

Europe. with its Atlantic and Mediterranean seaboards is a region in which megalithism evolved most intensively in prehistory. In no other region in the world does one find such a concentration of prehistoric megalithic monuments (Joussaume 1985). Suffice it to review the dolmenic structures of Andalusia and Portugal. the passage graves. gallery graves, chambered tombs, cairns and dolmens of Ireland, England and Brittany. the Hunebedden in the Netherlands and the Steinkisten of Germany, the Talayots. Navetas and Taulas of the Balearic islands and the Tombe dei Giganti and Nuraghi of Sardegna, the dolmens of Corsica and finishing with the smaller format dolmens of southeast Italy. If one were to analyse all the megalithic structures in this region one would find that all the ones that fall under the category of the megalithic phenomenon of the Middle and Late Neolithic -and, indeed, the great majority of the rest -are associated with mortuary ritual. Virtually all of them were intended, and were used as burials, whether dolmens. gallery graves, allies couvertes, etc. The one notable exception which I can think of is Stonehenge, which responds to a different concept of sacred spaces altogether and which was almost certainly intended as an open-air sanctuary. Chronologically Stonehenge falls on the borderline between the late Neolithic and the Bronze Age. coinciding with the last and culminating phase of the Maltese megalithic culture.