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| Skorba phase | |
|---|---|
| Name | Skorba phase |
| Period | Neolithic |
| Dates | ca. 4400–4100 BCE |
| Region | Malta |
| Major sites | Ġgantija, Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, Tarxien, Għar Dalam, Skorba |
| Preceded by | Għar Dalam phase |
| Followed by | Tarxien phase |
Skorba phase is a Neolithic cultural phase on Malta characterized by transitional settlement patterns, distinctive pottery styles, and evolving ritual architecture. Archaeological investigations during the 20th and 21st centuries at key sites have refined its chronology and illuminated ties with contemporary communities in the central Mediterranean. Scholars working with institutions such as the University of Malta, the British Museum, and the National Museum of Archaeology (Malta) have debated its role in the island's megalithic sequence.
The Skorba phase is dated to roughly 4400–4100 BCE based on stratigraphy at sites like Skorba (archaeological site), radiocarbon determinations undertaken by teams from the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, and laboratories such as the Ångström Laboratory, and ceramic seriation compared against assemblages from Sicily, Calabria, Sardinia, Pantelleria, and Tunisia. Key field directors including Sir Temi Żammit and later investigators associated with the Malta Archaeological Survey and the Society of Antiquaries of London contributed to refining its temporal bounds. Comparative work with sequences at Għar Dalam, Mġarr, Skorba, and Tarxien situates the phase between the earlier Għar Dalam phase and the succeeding Tarxien phase in Maltese prehistory.
Major excavations that yielded Skorba-phase material include Skorba (archaeological site), the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, Tarxien Temples, Għar Dalam, Mnajdra, Ġgantija, Ta' Ħaġrat, Xagħra on Gozo, and peripheral finds at Għajn Tuffieħa. Fieldwork led by figures from the University of Malta, the Museo Archeologico Nazionale (Syracuse), and the Instituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria produced stratigraphic sections, faunal lists, and lithic inventories. Surveys conducted by the European Union-funded projects and the UNESCO reconnaissance programs recorded surface scatters in the Mġarr plain and along the Dingli Cliffs that correlate with Skorba-phase horizons. Artifact recovery methods developed by teams from the British School at Rome and the Institute of Archaeology (UCL) improved context resolution for small finds.
Skorba-phase assemblages are marked by coarse undecorated wares, cord-impressed pottery parallels found in Sicily and Calabria, and the emergence of grooved and incised motifs later prominent in Tarxien contexts. Lithic industries show continuity with earlier chert reduction strategies identifiable in collections at the National Museums Liverpool and the Ashmolean Museum, while bone and shell tools link to exchange networks involving Sardinia and Pantelleria. Architectural remains from Skorba-phase deposits include multi-roomed domestic structures with orthostatic masonry precursors to the megalithic façades at Ġgantija and Tarxien Temples; comparative typologies were published by researchers affiliated with the British Museum, the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Cagliari, and the University of Palermo.
Skorba-phase funerary evidence appears in shallow pit interments and in early uses of chambered contexts later elaborated at Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum and Tarxien. Human remains recovered during excavations supervised by teams from the University of Malta and the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research reveal demographic profiles similar to contemporary Neolithic populations studied at Franchthi Cave, Sicily, and Sardinia. Grave offerings include pottery parallels comparable to assemblages in Sicily and ornaments akin to items catalogued at the British Museum and the Museo Egizio (Turin). Ritual practices inferred from context and deposition patterns have been debated in symposia hosted by the European Association of Archaeologists and published in journals affiliated with the University of Cambridge and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
Paleoenvironmental studies by teams from the University of Malta, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Siena indicate a landscape of mixed oak and Mediterranean shrubland with agricultural clearances similar to those reconstructed for Sicily and Sardinia. Zooarchaeological analyses conducted in collaboration with laboratories at the University College London and the Natural History Museum, London show managed caprine herding, pig husbandry, and limited cattle exploitation paralleling patterns in Calabria and Tunisia. Botanical remains processed at the University of Reading and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew demonstrate cultivation of cereals attested also at Għar Dalam and in southern Italy, while isotopic studies by the Max Planck Institute suggest maritime contacts across the central Mediterranean involving Pantelleria and Sicily.
The Skorba phase occupies a pivotal position in Maltese prehistory, forming cultural bridges to contemporaneous communities in Sicily, Calabria, Sardinia, and Tunisia. Exchanges evidenced through pottery styles, lithic networks, and raw material flows implicate maritime contacts with ports and communities represented in the records of the Museum of Archaeology (Syracuse), the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, and Mediterranean survey projects funded by the European Research Council. Debates over the mode of transition to the monumental megalithic tradition of the Tarxien phase have engaged scholars from the University of Malta, the British Museum, the University of Oxford, and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. The phase's legacy is preserved in national collections at the National Museum of Archaeology (Malta) and in comparative displays at institutions such as the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, and the Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi.
Category:Neolithic cultures of Europe Category:Prehistoric Malta