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Tarxien Cemetery phase

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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 Tarxien Cemetery phase is one of the eleven phases of Maltese prehistory. It is named for the Bronze Age burials on the site of the Tarxien temple complex near the village of Ħal Tarxien.

The Tarxien Cemetery phase, from approximately 2500 to 1500 BCE, follows the Tarxien phase, the last phase of the Temple period during which the principal megalithic temples of Malta were built. The culture is characterised not by large-scale temple building, but by dolmens and cremation cemeteries.[1]

References

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  1. ^ A. Bonanno, T. Gouder, C. Malone and S. Stoddart (1990) Monuments in an Island Society: The Maltese Context. World Archaeology 22 (2, Monuments and the Monumental, October 1990): 190-205. (subscription required)