The prehistoric fortified sites of Malta and Gozo

Abstract

The buildings which have created the greatest physical impact on the man-made landscape of Malta and Gozo are undoubtedly the castles and fortifications of the Knights of St. John, built at various times between 1530 A. D. and the second half of the 18th century. In a few instances they replaced Arab or medieval defenses and, having utilized the same foundations, they left hardly any visible trace of the earlier structures. However, the history of fortifications in the Maltese islands begins much further back in time than the Saracenic occupation. Indeed, the Arabs are known to have in some cases adapted the walls of the chief Roman towns --Melita in Malta and GauIos in Gozo -to their defense needs, and, yet even earlier, late prehistoric communities set up their main settlements on naturally-defended sites in both islands and often added massive walls to complete the enceintes. This paper is concerned only with prehistoric fortified sites, and it will attempt to summarize our present knowledge of their topography and archaeological sigllificance.