‘No easy way from the earth to the stars’: a new statistical approach to the orientation of the Maltese temples

Abstract

The Maltese Temples, built between 3800 and 2400 BC, are unique structures among the prehistoric monuments of Europe. Their consistent architectural style is characterised by straight entrance corridors leading to open courtyards. This led scholars to ask whether there may have been some intention to orientate their entrances in specific, meaningful ways. Previous attempts to answer this question have either proposed explanations without any formal analysis, only looking to disprove randomness, or have jumped to celestial interpretations without first exploring topographical ones. By contrast, we here deploy a single statistical framework to test the orientation of the Maltese temples against a variety of hypotheses, both terrestrial and celestial. Using a new set of orientation measurements for 32 structures (the largest sample ever analysed) the statistical analysis indicates that despite most temples having orientations that can be explained either by chance, terrain aspect, protection from wind or winter sunlight, there are some patterns of orientation that cannot be explained by any of these hypotheses. These patterns are only statistically significant for temples of the earlier, Ġgantija phase of construction and they match the rising or setting of neighbouring stars of the southern celestial hemisphere. It is argued that these stellar matches were unlikely to be coincidences in that they probably were important stars for astronavigation (as they still are today) in the central Mediterranean. Finally, we suggest that the temples, in addition to other symbolic or social purposes may have been places of instruction for young seafarers to learn these important navigational stars.