Guided tours at Skorba Temples during ‘Frott il-bidwi Mġarri’

Heritage Malta opened Skorba Temples with guided tours every hour during the annual agricultural event, ‘Frott ilbidwi Mġarri’ which was held on yesterday.

The temples’ location in Żebbiegħ limits of Mġarr, Malta’s agricultural hub, offers not only a magnificent view of Maltese rural environment, but reminds the visitor of the landscape setting that surrounded the prehistoric temples.

Skorba was the first megalithic site where modern excavation techniques were used, identifying stratified deposits of archaeological material from all known phases of Maltese prehistory. The site, together with another five megalithic buildings, has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1992.

Skorba is best known for the discovery of two megalithic structures, dating to the Ġgantija (3600-3000BC) and the Tarxien (3000-2500BC) phases. The earlier and better preserved building consisted of a trefoil structure. Slabs with pitted decoration form part of the step leading to the room on the right-hand side.

A second temple was added in the Tarxien phase, this time having two rooms on each side and a central niche. One of the buildings was re-used in the early Bronze Age, when a bench and other features were built in the inner room.

The earliest remains, consist of an 11m stretch of wall dating back to circa 5200-4500BC. Two oval structures dating to the Red Skorba phase (4400-4100BC) were also uncovered in the eastern part of the site. These are flanked on two sides by a paved area, similar to a yard. Large quantities of pottery fragments and animal bone, fragments of stylized female figurines and the remains of a number of domestic huts dating to various phases from Maltese prehistory were found within the site.