Universität zu Köln

Groucutt, Huw S., Carleton, W. Christopher, Fenech, Katrin, Gauci, Ritienne ORCID: 0000-0002-4496-3138, Grima, Reuben, Scerri, Eleanor M. L., Stewart, Mathew and Vella, Nicholas C. (2022). The 4.2 ka Event and the End of the Maltese Temple Period. Front. Earth Sci., 9. LAUSANNE: FRONTIERS MEDIA SA. ISSN 2296-6463

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

The small size and relatively challenging environmental conditions of the semi-isolated Maltese archipelago mean that the area offers an important case study of societal change and human-environment interactions. Following an initial phase of Neolithic settlement, the Temple Period in Malta began similar to 5.8 thousand years ago (ka), and came to a seemingly abrupt end similar to 4.3 ka, and was followed by Bronze Age societies with radically different material culture. Various ideas concerning the reasons for the end of the Temple Period have been expressed. These range from climate change, to invasion, to social conflict resulting from the development of a powerful priesthood. Here, we explore the idea that the end of the Temple Period relates to the 4.2 ka event. The 4.2 ka event has been linked with several examples of significant societal change around the Mediterranean, such as the end of the Old Kingdom in Egypt, yet its character and relevance have been debated. The Maltese example offers a fascinating case study for understanding issues such as chronological uncertainty, disentangling cause and effect when several different processes are involved, and the role of abrupt environmental change in impacting human societies. Ultimately, it is suggested that the 4.2 ka event may have played a role in the end of the Temple Period, but that other factors seemingly played a large, and possibly predominant, role. As well as our chronological modelling indicating the decline of Temple Period society in the centuries before the 4.2 ka event, we highlight the possible significance of other factors such as a plague epidemic.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Groucutt, Huw S. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Carleton, W. Christopher UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Fenech, Katrin UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Gauci, Ritienne UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-4496-3138 UNSPECIFIED Grima, Reuben UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Scerri, Eleanor M. L. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Stewart, Mathew UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Vella, Nicholas C. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-672738
DOI:	10.3389/feart.2021.771683
Journal or Publication Title:	Front. Earth Sci.
Volume:	9
Date:	2022
Publisher:	FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
Place of Publication:	LAUSANNE
ISSN:	2296-6463
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language EXTREME WAVE EVENTS; OLEA-EUROPAEA L.; EARLY BRONZE-AGE; CLIMATE-CHANGE; MEDITERRANEAN REGION; VEGETATION HISTORY; SHIP GRAFFITI; BP EVENT; OLIVE; SPREAD Multiple languages Geosciences, Multidisciplinary Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/67273