Malta : echoes of Plato's island

The most ancient architectural civilisation on the planet is represented by a megalithic culture which flourished for a thousand years between 3600/3500 and 2600/2500BC, and which was concentrated on the tiny Maltese archipelago in the Central Mediterranean. The radiocarbon dates have said so. The dates have also indicated that, just after its sudden termination around 2600/2500BC, the pyramidal form of megalithic culture appeared in Egypt. The small size of the Maltese archipelago of today militates against the prominent archaeological position it assumes. Its megalithic monuments, decorative art and statuary are the remarkable survivors of its civilisation. The temples of Malta never fail to amaze all nationalities, except for the native Maltese. Yet how could such a small surface area produce a civilisation antedating the Egyptian one by a thousand years? Equally enigmatic are the circumstances of its sudden and abrupt termination, followed by a complete break in the archaeological record, and represented by ―several feet of fine sand, containing no stones or broken fragments of rock and no traces of any Bronze Age pottery or metal, clearly showing that this layer had been deposited by centuries of wind and rain, untouched by the hand of man. Although several hypotheses have been put forward to explain its sudden and complete elimination, such as famine, plague, warfare and over-exploitation of natural resources, a more satisfactory interpretation in this regard is still wanting. IMG BLANK ECHOES COMPLETE PDF EXCEPT COVERS COMBINED TOTAL PART1 Platoi&ii Frontispiece Photograph by Anton Mifsud Proprint18thJuly Plate1Page73 Plate 2Page74 Plate3Page75 Plate4Page76 Plate5page77 Plate6Page78 Plate7page79 Plate8Page80 Ruts Silos Plate9Page81 Plate10Page82 Plate11Page83 Figure17Page27.pdf Photograph by C. Savona Ventura Figure21Page35.pdf Design — Tabitha Mifsud FIGURE23PAGE39.pdf Design – Tabitha Mifsud Figure25Page43.pdf Figure 25. Submerged man-made structures Figure30Page51.pdf Sicily Maltese Pelagian Mount Straits of Pages2&3 2001 ED.pdf Anton Mifsud MALTA: ECHOES OF PLATO’S ISLAND Anton Mifsud, Simon Mifsud, Chris Agius Sultana, Charles Savona Ventura PrefaceSecEd (2).pdf Preface to the first edition PART 3 PlatoINDEX INDEX AuthorsC BLANK IMG_0001