Book contents
- Women in the Ancient Mediterranean World
- Women in the Ancient Mediterranean World
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Timeline
- Historical Contexts
- Introduction
- Part I The Deep Past
- 1 Women in Caves
- 2 A Woman of Çatalhöyük
- 3 A Woman of Gozo
- Part II The Bronze Age
- Part III The Iron Age
- Part IV The Hellenistic Worlds
- Part V The Age of Empire
- Notes
- Select Bibliography
- Index
3 - A Woman of Gozo
from Part I - The Deep Past
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 January 2023
- Women in the Ancient Mediterranean World
- Women in the Ancient Mediterranean World
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Timeline
- Historical Contexts
- Introduction
- Part I The Deep Past
- 1 Women in Caves
- 2 A Woman of Çatalhöyük
- 3 A Woman of Gozo
- Part II The Bronze Age
- Part III The Iron Age
- Part IV The Hellenistic Worlds
- Part V The Age of Empire
- Notes
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The small island of Gozo lies just a short distance northwest of Malta, in the central Mediterranean. People arrived on the islands in the sixth millennium BC.1 In the later fourth millennium BC Maltese lifestyle changed and more complex societies were developed; this Temple Period is known for its megalithic monuments, which are often regarded as temples, and for its hypogea – caves and chambers. Over the course of this long period, many of the ‘temples’ were constructed, maintained and rebuilt repeatedly, suggesting a stable way of life on the islands. Around 2300 BC or sometime earlier, this lifestyle, and the Temple Period, came to an end for reasons that are unclear, and the island even appears deserted – though archaeologists will state that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.2 Nevertheless, the striking archaeological remains of prehistoric Malta and Gozo, the temples, labyrinthine underground complexes, and ‘human’ statues all continue to catch the imagination of modern people.
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- Information
- Women in the Ancient Mediterranean WorldFrom the Palaeolithic to the Byzantines, pp. 42 - 48Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023