THE EFFECT OF NEOLITHIC MAN ON MALTESE ENVIRONMENT
The first known traces of man in Malta may date from approximately
15000 years ago when Palaeolithic man followed the deer herd migration
south as a result of the advancing ice on the continent. At this stage
in his culture, man had a very limited effect of his surrounding environment.
Definite changes to the environment were only felt when man learned to
cultivate the fields and husband animals in the Neolithic phase of his
culture. Very little is known about the vegetation of the Islands before
the advent of Neolithic man. Quaternary deposits have indicated remains
of the tree species Laurus nobilis (Laurel) and Pinus halepensis
(Aleppio pine) [Zammit Maempel, 1977/1982]. There is in addition pollen
evidence for the presence of the tree species - Hazel nut, Oak, and Ash.
There appears to have also been the Buckthorn, Mediterranean heath, Psyllium,
Nettle and Blackberry [Hunt, 1997]. The quaternary snail species population
excavated from the deposit at Mellieha (Malta) suggest that the climate
during the quaternary period was a Mediterranean one similar to that prevailing
today. The presence of the calciphile snail species
Orcula doliolum,
now extinct on the Islands, suggests that the climate was slightly more
moist than the present day [Thake, 1985].
Definite evidence of Neolithic man on the Islands dates to about
7000 years ago. Excavations at Ghar Dalam and Skorba have shown that the
first colonisers were people at a Neolithic level of cultural development:
they were able to make stone implements, knew the art of pottery making
and lived by farming.
Analysis of carbonized wood and seeds excavated from Scorba - a neolithic
site datable to the Ghar Dalam phase (5200-4500 BC) - have confirmed that
the in the early Neolithic period the islands had tree species like Cercis
siliquastrum (Judas tree), Crataegus sp. (Hawthorn) and Fraxinus
sp. (Ash) [Metcalfe, 1966]. Two species of wild plants Sherardia
arvensis (Field Madder) and Scorpiurus sp. (Caterpillar plant)
were also identified. The former may have been used to extract dye [Helbaek,
1966], while many of the other species have medicinal properties [Lanfranco,
1992; Savona-Ventura & Mifsud, 1999].
The Early Neolithic farmers probably had a relatively simple agriculture
utilizing a system of shifting agriculture in which land was roughly cleared
of vegetation, cultivated for a few years and then abandoned. Carbonized
seed analysis have confirmed that Early Neolithic man cultivated barley,
wheat, leguminous plants - Lens esculenta (Lentil of Neolithic Anatolian
type), two types of wheat - Triticum dicoccum (Emmer wheat) and
Triticum
compactum (Club wheat), and a hulled variety of barley [Helbaek, 1966].
Early Neolithic man also intentionally and unintentionally introduced
a number of animal species to the Islands. He brought with him a number
of domesticated animal species including pigs, sheep and goats. He also
domesticated cattle. At Skorba with
its Early - Late Neolithic phases, cattle bones seemed to be more frequent
in the deposits of the earlier phases, though overall the commonest bones
recovered belonged to goats and sheep [Gandert, 1966]. The reason for the
change in animal husbandry is related to grazing patterns of the various
species. Goats and sheep, unlike cattle, graze very close to the ground
thus requiring poorer grazing grounds. In addition Early Neolithic man
introduced the two rat species (Rattus rattus and rattus norvegicus),
the House Mouse (Mus musculus), the Algerian Hedgehog (Erinaceus
algirus), besides domesticated dogs and cats [Storch, 1970; Boessneck
and Kuver, 1970]. Excavations at the Xemxija Tombs, dated to the beginning
of the Late Neolithic Period (the Temple Culture period), have revealed
a large number of bones belonging to a variety of domesticated and wild
animal species [Pike, 1971].
XEMXIJA TOMBS ANIMAL REMAINS
|
DOMESTICATED ANIMALS
1. Sheep/Goat: large range of sizes, biggest approximating
the modern Mediterranean sheep.
2. Bos sp.: Bone numbers less common than those of the sheep/goat.
Size smaller than those of modern Mediterranean cattle.
3. Sus sp.: Not a large species of pig
4. Equus sp.: Size comparable to those of the Dartmoor pony.
5. Canis sp.: Size of a small terrier.
6. Felix sp.: Size smaller than those of the modern domestic cat.
Cat bones commoner than bones of dog. |
WILD ANIMALS
1. Cervus: Deer were
common during the Pliestocene period being excavated from a number of sites.
They apparently were existant even during the Early Neolithic Phase, but
became eventually extinct because of hunting and loss of habitat.
2. Rabbit: may have been introduced
by man as food.
3. Rat
4. Hedgehog: may have been introduced
by man as food.
5. Bird: same size as domestic
fowl, but could be sea-birds. |
The population on the Islands increased progressively, enough to
enable the development of a new culture requiring the building of a significant
number of large temples during a period of about 1500 years (c. 4100 -
2500 BC). 
The
increasing population was supported by a higher agricultural production
achieved mainly by utilising the land more intensively, by the reduction
of pasture land and woodland, and by shortening the fallow periods in the
shifting agricultural system. The Temple Culture farmers relied basically
on the same crops that were utilised in the earlier Neolithic period, though
there were probably changes in emphasis. There may well have been more
interest in crops like the olive and the vine. Excavation at the Tarxien
Phase level (3300/3000-2500 BC) at Scorba revealed carbonised remains of
the tree species Pinus halepensis (Aleppio pine) and
Olea europaea
(Olive) [Metcalfe, 1966].
The domesticated animals were much the same, but cattle appear to
have become less important, possibly because the better land was used for
agriculture and there was less good pasture land available. Sheep and goats
could be grazed on poorer ground abandoned by the farmer. The stresses
placed on the soils made these liable to lose their fertility. Over a period
of time shifting cultivation and heavy grazing altered the natural vegetation
and resulted in the clearance of the woodland areas. The woodland apparently
disappeared as farming became more intensive and the disturbed land was
encroached by plant species best suited for this environment. It appears
from the land snail species identified from deposits at Brochtorff Circle
in Gozo that the area was probably a garrique environment which forms on
the barren Upper Coralline Limestone and on which only a few hardy plant
species survive [Schembri, 1994].
The stresses placed on the environment by the increasing agricultual
efforts of Late Neolithic man contributed to the eventual decline of the
community. The Neolithic Temple culture of the Islands of Malta in the
Central Mediterranean disappeared around 2500 BC. Several attempts have
been made to unravel the mystery of how and why this splendid civilization
came to such an abrupt end after reaching heights of artistic and architectural
achievement, but none of the theories suggested so far is entirely satisfactory. 
The
most plausible one seems to be that the population was compelled to abandon
the islands following a series of drought that ruined their triving, but
sensitive, agricultural economy. Scarcity of food, with accompanying deaths
from malnutrition and disease, broke down the social relationships of the
Temple Culture. The abrupt climatic change referred to as the First Little
Ice Age noted during this period could very easily have been caused by
a series of volcanic eruptions in the region which gave rise to the fall
of a number of Old World Eastern Civilizations, all of which apparently
fell at about the same period [Weiss, 1996].
References
1. Boessneck J., Kuver M: Alluviale Tierknochenfunde aus der Ghar Dalam
- Hohle, Malta. Senckenbergiana Biol., LI:p.147-158, 1970
2. Gandert O-F.: 1966: Preliminary report on the animal bones. Appendix
III. In: Trump D.H.: Skorba - excavations carried out on behalf of the
National Museum of Malta 1962-64. Report of the Research Committee
of the Society of Antiquaries of London, xxii, 1966
3. Helbaek H.: Report on carbonized grain from AFS (Ghar Dalam Phase).
Appendix IV. In: Trump D.H.: Skorba - excavations carried out on behalf
of the National Museum of Malta 1962-64. Report of the Research Committee
of the Society of Antiquaries of London, xxii, 1966
4. Hunt C.O.: Quaternary deposits in the Maltese Islands: a microcosm of
environmental change in the Mediterranean. GeoJournal., 41.2:104.
5. Lanfranco, G.: Hxejjex Medicinali u ohrajn fil Gzejjer Maltin.
Media Centere, Malta, 1993, +132p.
6. Metcalfe C.R.: Report on the botanical determination of charcoal
samples. Appendix V. In: Trump D.H.: Skorba - excavations carried
out on behalf of the National Museum of Malta 1962-64. Report of the
Research Committee of the Society pf Antiquaries of London, xxii, 1966
7. Pike G.: The Animal Bones from the Xemxija Tombs. Appendix In:
Evans J.D.: The prehistoric antiquities of the Maltese Islands: A Survey.
University of London, 1971
8. Savona-Ventura C. & Mifsud A.: Prehistoric Medicine in Malta.
ProPrint, Malta, 1999, +102p.
9. Schembri P.J.: Reconstructing the Palaeoenvironment of the Maltese
Islands. Brochtorff Circle Seminar - The Archaeological Society, 10
September 1994 (lecture)
10. Storch G.: Holozane Kleinsaugerfunde aus der Ghar Dalam-Hohle, Malta
(Mammalia: Insectivora, Chiroptera, Rodentia). Senckenbergiana Biol.,
LI:135-145, 1970
11. Thake M.A.: Land snails from the Mellieha quaternary deposits. Potamon,
14:93, 1985
12. Weiss H.: Destert Storm. The Sciences, 36(3):30-36, 1996
13. Zammit Maempel G.: An outline of Maltese geology. Malta, +44p.,
1977
14. Zammit Maempel G.: A Maltese Pleistocene sequence capped by volcanic
tufa. Atti Soc. Tuscana Sci. Nat. Mem., ser.B(xliii):p225-240, 1982
