The collapse of the Maltese temples

Abstract

That archaeology must set as its main objective the translation of changes in the material record into human history has been stressed by many. Even if we cannot recover the individual from the prehistoric past, we can and must make every effort to recover the society of which he formed a part (Clark 1953). In other words, we must look for the people behind the relics,since only thus have we any chance of explaining observed changes in the record. A historical typology of the artefacts is not enough. Whether or not it is possible to proceed further, to determine regularities or patterns in those changes, and whether or not it is legitimate to describe such regularities as laws, the author does not propose to discuss here. Instead, he intends to take a single archaeologically well documented event in the prehistoric past and re-examine it; partly for its intrinsic interest, partly for the light it can throw on the procedures available to us and their limitations, and partly, perhaps mainly, to illustrate the difficulties even a comparatively simple case may present.