Luigi M. Ugolini’s Malta Antica III : templi neolitici minori e monumenti megalitici (Minor neolithic temples and megalithic monuments)

Abstract

Like Malta Antica I and II, this work is essentially a modern reconstruction of a work that was unfortunately left unfinished more than eighty years ago. When compared to the other two volumes, however, it is immediately clear that much remained to be done to bring Malta Antica III to publication. Readers will also notice that the fourth volume in the Malta Antica series, that was supposed to tackle the temples and necropolis of the Cuprolithic Age (Ugolini 2012: opposite title page), is not included in the present publication project. The Tarxien Cemetery (Ugolini 2012: 92/281, figs 61-62, 97-103), the temple at Ta’ Ħaġrat built with relatively smaller megaliths (Ugolini 2012: 20/267, fig. 96), and the easternmost temple at Tarxien (Ugolini 2012: fig. 22), could easily have found a place in this elusive fourth volume. But reconstructing such a volume in line with what Ugolini originally intended has not been possible. Furthermore, some of his conclusions for his Cuprolithic Age no longer hold ground today and the relevant material is instead treated in the three volumes being published. [Excerpt from the Introduction]