Different ways humans were depicted in Maltese prehistory

The evidence of Malta’s first inhabitants dates back to circa 5200 BC. This period, the Early Neolithic, along with the successive Temple period, forms part of the Maltese Neolithic period which ends circa 2500BC.

The sophisticated societies living during the Maltese prehistory produced an abundant assortment of remnants ranging from architectural structures such as temples, tools and artistic craftsmanship including pottery and statues.

Some of the most remarkable remains are the ones representing the human form.

The artistic creativity shown via the human representation during this period is remarkable. These statues vary in size from 4mm to 2.7m and also vary in materials used to create them.

They have been called amongst other terms, Mother Goddess, Fat Ladies, Deities and Priests. The fact that most of them are corpulent is in itself an indication of how the Neolithic people perceived their ‘deity’.

Corpulence was up to some decades ago perceived as a sign of good health and fertility.

Scenic sea and country views welcome anyone visiting this temple complex, just as it welcomed the Neolithic community.

All the megalithic buildings dating to this period were erected using mainly the local Globigerina limestone and at times the Upper globigerina limestone.

The Globigerina limestone is easy to carve, but this also makes it susceptible to weathering.

Phallic representations were very common in prehistoric communities. They must have been a symbolic portrayal of manliness and fertility.

All of the phallic representations found on the Maltese islands during the Neolithic period come for the temple sites which seem to indicate that they formed part of some sort of ritual.

This statue if complete would have stood at nearly three metres high. It is the largest statue ever found locally and considering its positioning when it was found inside the temples we can hypothesise that this represented a very prominent person.

The rest of the statue was never found and in all probability it was slowly broken to bits by the farmer who ploughed the fields regularly before the temples were excavated.

Carved animal friezes and spiral stone blocks were part of the furniture of this megalithic structure.

There are a few stone and clay heads in the national collection which do not seem to form part of any of the statues.

A distinct feature is the almond shaped eyes which are clearly seen in most of the faces. Another distinct characteristic is a prominent nose.

These discoid figurines give a resemblance to schematic human persons in a seated position. Although lacking any facial characteristics they seem to be the only human representation from the Bronze Age period.

Moulded in clay they have a Bronze Age characteristic decoration of hatched triangles which is also found on the pottery of that period. Another two small statues have more human characteristics.

The people inhabiting our islands in this period seem to have disregarded the megalithic structures of the previous temple Period, with the main exception being Tarxien Temples. The centre of the Southern part of the temple was utilised by the Bronze Age people as a cemetery.

A sterile layer of silt divided the two periods and the finds in this layer consisted mainly of cremated remains in urns accompanied by a number of personal ornaments like jewellery and a large number of pottery vessels.

Clay and stone, a common local resource, are the predominant materials used by the prehistoric inhabitants.

The Maltese Blue Clay varies in colour and is found in various areas of the islands. The inclusion of water to the clay and some ground organic substances, such as stone or sand, increases its resistance to heat.

Animal bones were often used to depict human representations. These bones were normally carved into small statuettes. Moreover, other materials such as alabaster were imported to carve some of the statuettes.