Saflieni phase

The Saflieni phase is one of the eleven phases of Maltese prehistory, the fourth of five in the middle or Temple period. It is named for the Ħal-Saflieni Hypogeum, an underground temple complex now recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO,[1] which was built mainly in this period.

e  hMaltese prehistoric chronology
(Based on recalibrated radiocarbon dating)
Period Phase Dates BC c.
Neolithic
(5000-4100 BC)		 Għar Dalam 5000-4500 BC
Grey Skorba 4500-4400 BC
Red Skorba 4400-4100 BC
Temple Period
(4100–2500 BC)		 Żebbuġ 4100–3800 BC
Mġarr 3800-3600 BC
Ġgantija 3600-3000 BC
Saflieni 3300-3000 BC
Tarxien 3000-2500 BC
Bronze Age
(2500–700 BC)		 Tarxien Cemetery 2500–1500 BC
Borġ in-Nadur 1500–700 BC
Baħrija 900–700 BC

The Saflieni phase, from approximately 3300–3000 BC, is a brief transitional phase between the Ġgantija and Tarxien phases, the two main phases during which the principal Megalithic temples of Malta were built.[2]:21 Saflieni-phase ceramics may provide a useful indication of separation between the two long phases.[3]:45 They have been recovered a number of Megalithic sites, including: the top level of the remains at Santa Verna at Xagħra in Gozo; from the eastern part of the temple of Ta' Ħaġrat in Mġarr; and from the lower levels of the east temple at Skorba.[3]:45–46

References
  1. World Heritage List: Hal Saflieni Hypogeum. UNESCO. Accessed February 2014.
  2. David Hilary Trump (1972). Malta: An Archaeological Guide. London: Faber and Faber.
  3. Reuben Grima (2008). Landscape, Territories, and the Life-Histories of Monuments in Temple Period Malta. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 21 (1): 35–56. doi:10.1558/jmea.v21i1.35. (subscription required).


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