The importance of Skorba lies chiefly in the information that provided about Maltese prehistory. Its location says much about the choice of strategic places for establishing village settlements. Skorba dominates a fertile valley defined on all sides by hills. To the southwest, about a kilometer away, lies the Late Neolithic site of Ta’ Hagrat. Judging from the presence of Ghar Dalam phase pottery, this site could have had a long history that paralleled that of Skorba.
Easy access to a fertile valley made field cultivation more economical in respect to distances covered by villagers in order to reach this produce. The village itself consisted of a grouping together of small oval huts which served as the center of agricultural life.
With occupation spanning nearly the whole of prehistory, older structures would have had less chance of survival. With every generation, older buildings would have simply been covered over or re-developed into new structures. The more visible remains today mostly belong to the Late Neolithic megalithic structure dating to 3600-2500 BC. To date explanations for the presence of this structure directly on top of a former village site has been explained in terms of distinctly different and separate cultural developments, but there could also have been some relationship with earlier, more ancient traditions. Being more extensive in nature, megalithic construction would have played havoc with earlier buildings that were flimsier and weaker.
Photo: Füsun Kavrakoğlu, 2016.
There are quite a few theories as to how the Maltese megalithic culture met its end. Some scholars associate the community’s downfall with the deterioration of their environmental conditions; others think it may be the result of a foreign attack or social unrest. Whatever the reason, after around 2500 BC, traces of the temple builders are no longer found in the archaeological record. The people who settled on the islands after this date were very different from those of the Temple Period (4000-2500 BC). What happened to the temple builders is still a mystery.
The Hagar Qim & Mnajdra Archaeological Park
Tempji Neolitici Tal-Ggantija (UNESCO World Heritage)
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