Some archaeologists have commented, looking at the dark interiors of the Malta temples, that the temples may have originated as above-ground replications of rock-cut tombs. Indeed, several of the complex temples are associated with the mega burial sites; but the temples themselves do not contain burials. When the roofs were intact, they were dark, enclosed spaces with red-plastered walls, with labyrinthine, branching, dark passages which had eerie acoustical properties. The buildings are way too massive for the needs of the population, and they are flat low structures with dun-colored local limestone and maybe flat wattle and daub roofing that echoes the environment after the forests had been removed.
The temples have a clear dichotomy, there's a distinct inside and outside, a division between front and rear, and access to the interior is restricted by way of a series of doorways and closed off areas. In some of the temples are "oracle holes", narrow slots in the wall which connect the inner temples with exterior rooms. Researchers have suggested that they were used as communication pathways to transmit knowledge between a small insider group and a larger group outside.
The inner furniture consists of built-in stone tables or "altars", and stone doors coupled with partitions made of organic materials. Artifacts found inside the temples include chert and obsidian tools, polished stone axes and amulets, pottery, and small figurines of females, figures without clearly defined sexual attributes and animals. Architectural details also include small holes drilled into the walls and floors without obvious purpose. Animal sacrifices inside the temples are suggested by finds of domesticated animal bones and flint blades, and feasting has been inferred from the large number of carinated bowls.
Sources
See the Malta Temples bibliography for more information.
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