This paper integrates the results of recent bioarchaeological and spatial analyses at one of the largest collective burial sites in Europe, the Xagħra Circle Hypogeum on Gozo. This suite of new approaches has addressed demography, funerary practices, interactions with the dead, and the changing use of space. Modelling structural events and reconstructing funerary practices from 2900 to 2350 cal BC, we trace persistent variation and flexibility in the use of space over time. Taphonomic analysis shows that young individuals (from foetal age and above) were included within the burial space, and their depositions occasionally informed subsequent interments. Such results resonate beyond this site and enhance our understanding of society in third millennium BC Malta. We advance a model of broad accessibility to the burial space, strengthening emerging narratives of heterarchical social dynamics in the Maltese islands.
The Maltese islands offer an unusual opportunity for the analysis of the interplay of light and dark in a prehistoric context. The potential is provided by the excellent preservation of the architectural monuments which permit the framing of different scenarios of light and dark, tempered by the need to reconstruct tentatively some missing elements such as the roofs. A number of features, such as the intense sunshine and the dramatic storms, have probably remained reasonably constant since prehistory although the modern pluvial patterns may have only developed from about 2200 bc. Other components such as sources of artificial light require archaeological information for their reconstruction. The most difficult task, however, is to understand the reception of light and dark by the prehistoric communities; but the detailed evidence that survives has offered the best possible chance to achieve this objective.
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