The Hypogeum at Hal Saflieni is clearly of the same period as the Sanctuaries, but it is peculiar in that it is cut in the solid rock. It consists of a maze of small rooms (two are decorated with red lines and spirals on the wall) disposed in two stories; and it is interesting to note that the corbelled roofs of the sanc tuaries and other features of the megalithic structures e ground were imitated here. Whatever may have been its original purpose it is certain that it was eventually employed as an ossuary. But little is known of the other graves of the neolithic period; possibly the dolmens are the earliest of these. In addition, how ever, a series of extended and also crouched burials have been found in a cave at Burmeghez near Mkabba, while at Bukana near Casal Attard is a rock-cut tomb revealing ossuary-practice accompanied by much red ochre. As to dwelling-places, there are occasionally groups of small rooms, perhaps habitations, near the Sanctuaries, as on the Corradino Hill and it seems likely that such structures as Borg-en-Nadur in Malta and Tal-Kaghan in Gozo were fortified settlements. The question of the origin of this neolithic civilization is one of the outstanding problems of Mediterranean archaeology. There are certain architectural re semblances between the megalithic buildings and Hypogeum of Malta and those of the other western Mediterranean islands, particularly as regards the Hypogeum and the rock-cut tombs of Sardinia and Sicily. Some of the pottery, furthermore, has affini ties with sherds found in Sardinia, and also in Sicily, where it is noteworthy that spiral carvings on rock are known; Spanish affin ities for the Maltese pottery have also been claimed. There is, therefore, hardly room to doubt the general relationship of the neolithic civilization in Malta with the megalithic civilization of the Western Mediterranean ; but stock must be taken of possible influences from other directions. The resemblance of some of the Malta pottery to the spiral-meander ware of Italy (Salerno) and central Europe and the Balkans (e.g. Butmir) must be noted; nor are the connections with Crete especially as regards the horned spiraliform ornament to be neglected. It now seems probable, however, that north Africa supplied a determining factor in the f or mation of the Maltese civilization ; but, though this view is gaining i ground, a fuller knowledge of she Tunisian prehistoric cultures is required before a connection between Africa and the Mediter ranean islands can be effectively demonstrated.
The Bronze Age in Malta is signalized by a new pottery, but this has been found in direct stratigraphical relations with neolithic remains at Hal Tarxien where a cemetery of large urns con taining cremated bones was found in a part of the second temple that, after it had first fallen into ruins, had been levelled to receive the new graves. These urns were accompanied by daggers and flat axes, mostly of copper, and by peculiar discoid "sitting" figures made of pottery. The Bronze Age ware also occurs in the Hypogeum, and in the Sanctuary of Santa Verna; it has been referred, very doubtfully, to Middle Minoan I, and on this view the beginning of the neolithic must be put back at least as far as 300o B.C. to allow for the full development of the Sanctuary architecture and for the partial ruin of Hal Tarxien before the deposition of the cemetery. This Bronze Age ware has Italic affinities suggesting a rather later date than M.M.I.
There is seemingly a break between the Bronze Age culture and the coming of the Phoenicians. The first arrival of these folk dates from the beginning of the last millennium B.C., but the period of the foundation of the towns is later, that is to say, about the 7th or 8th century B.C. The island was clearly an im portant colony, and the Phoenician remains are of considerable interest. Three distinct types of Punic graves are recognised,
the earliest having a round cell and round chamber, and the latest variety having both cell and chamber square. These last probably overlap the beginning of the Roman occupation.
Finally the "cart-ruts" (deep parallel grooves worn in the rock and having a span of about 43-ft.) must also be noted among the antiquities of Malta, though their age and significance is still obscure. They are at least older than the late Punic graves, since these in two instances cut across them, and the fact that they run out under the sea at Birzebuggia is another proof of their antiquity.
To the Phoenician period, besides the tombs already mentioned, belong some remains of houses and cisterns, and (probably) a few round towers which are scattered about the island, while the important Roman house at Cittavecchia is the finest monu ment of this period in the islands.
The Carthaginians came to Malta in the 6th century B.C., not as conquerors, but as friends of a sister Phoenician colony (Freeman, Hist. Sicily, i. 255) : Carthage in her struggle with Rome was at last driven to levy oppressive tribute, whereupon the Maltese gave up the Punic garrison to Titus Sempronius in circumstances described by Livy (xxi. 51). The Romans did not treat the Maltese as conquered enemies, and at once gave them the privileges of a municipium; Cicero (in Verrem) refers to the Maltese as "Sea." Nothing was to be gained by displacing the Phoenician inhabitants in a country from which any race less thrifty would find life impossible 'by agriculture. On the strength of a monument bearing his name, it has been surmised that Hannibal was born in Malta, while his father was governor general of Sicily; he certainly did not die in Malta. There is evidence from Cicero (in Verrem) that a very high stage of manufacturing and commercial prosperity, attained in Cartha ginian times, continued in Malta under the Romans. The Phoeni cian temple of Juno, which stood on the site of Fort St. Angelo, is also mentioned by Valerius Maximus. An inscription records the restoration of the temple of Proserpine by Cheriston, a f reed man of Augustus and procurator of Malta. Diodorus Siculus (L. V., c. 4) speaks of the importance and ornamentation of Maltese dwellings, and to this day remains of palaces and dwellings of the Roman period indicate a high degree of civilization and wealth. When forced to select a place of exile, Cicero was at first (ad Att. III. 4, X. i. 8, 9) attracted to Malta, over which he had ruled as quaestor 75 B.C. Publius was "chief of the island" when St. Paul was shipwrecked (Acts xxvii. 7) ; and is said to have become the first Christian bishop of Malta. The site where the cathedral at Notabile now stands is reputed to have been the residence of Publius and to have been converted by him into the first Chris tian place of worship, which was rebuilt in 1090 by Count Roger, the Norman conqueror of Malta. The Maltese catacombs are strikingly similar to those of Rome, and were likewise used as places of burial and of refuge in time of persecution. They con tain clear indication of the interment of martyrs. St. Paul's Bay was the site of shipwreck of the apostle in A.D. 58; the "topon diathalasson" referred to in Acts is the strait between Malta and the islet of Selmun. According to tradition and to St. Chrysostom (Horn. 54) the stay of the apostle resulted in the conversion of the Maltese to Christianity. The description of the islanders in Acts as "barbaroi" confirms the testimony of Diodorus Siculus that they were Phoenicians, neither hellenized nor romanized. The bishopric of Malta is referred to by Rocco Pirro (Sicilia sacra), and by Gregory the Great (EPist. 44; 9, 63 ; 1o, I). It appears that Malta was not materially affected by the Greek schism, and remained subject to Rome.