The Saflieni phase is one of the eleven phases of

Maltese prehistory Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Malte ...

, the fourth of five in the middle or Temple period. It is named for the Ħal-Saflieni Hypogeum, an underground temple complex now recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, which was built mainly in this period. The Saflieni phase, from approximately 3300–3000 BC, is a brief transitional phase between the Ġgantija and

Tarxien phase The Tarxien phase is one of the eleven phases of Maltese prehistory. It is named for the temple complex discovered near the village of Ħal Tarxien, and now recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The Tarxien phase, from approximately ...

s, the two main phases during which the principal

Megalithic temples of Malta The Megalithic Temples of Malta ( mt, It-Tempji Megalitiċi ta' Malta) are several prehistoric temples, some of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, built during three distinct periods approximately between 3600 BC and 2500 BC on the island coun ...

were built. Saflieni-phase ceramics may provide a useful indication of separation between the two long phases. They have been recovered a number of Megalithic sites, including: the top level of the remains at

Santa Verna Santa Verna is a megalithic site in Xagħra on the island of Gozo, Malta. The site was originally occupied by a village and a megalithic temple. Although the temple is in poor condition now, in ancient times it was probably one of the major t ...

at Xagħra in

Gozo Gozo (, ), Maltese: ''Għawdex'' () and in antiquity known as Gaulos ( xpu, 𐤂𐤅𐤋, ; grc, Γαῦλος, Gaúlos), is an island in the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After t ...

; from the eastern part of the temple of

Ta' Ħaġrat Taw, tav, or taf is the twenty-second and last letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician Tāw , Hebrew Tav , Aramaic Taw , Syriac Taw ܬ, and Arabic ت Tāʼ (22nd in abjadi order, 3rd in modern order). In Arabic, it is also gives ri ...

in Mġarr; and from the lower levels of the east temple at

Skorba The Skorba temples are megalithic remains on the northern edge of Żebbiegħ, in Malta, which have provided detailed and informative insight into the earliest periods of Malta's neolithic culture. The site was only excavated in the early 1960s, ...

References

Neolithic cultures of Europe Archaeological cultures of Southern Europe Archaeological cultures in Malta Pre-Indo-Europeans Megalithic Temples of Malta Maltese prehistory {{Malta-stub