Tarxien Cemetery phase

The Tarxien Cemetery phase is one of the eleven phases of Maltese prehistory. It is named for the Bronze Age burials on the site of the Tarxien temple complex near the village of Ħal Tarxien.

e  hMaltese prehistoric chronology (Based on recalibrated radiocarbon dating)
Period	Phase	Dates BC c.
Neolithic (5000–4100 BC)	Għar Dalam	5000–4500 BC
	Grey Skorba	4500–4400 BC
	Red Skorba	4400–4100 BC
Temple Period (4100–2500 BC)	Żebbuġ	4100–3800 BC
	Mġarr	3800–3600 BC
	Ġgantija	3600–3000 BC
	Saflieni	3300–3000 BC
	Tarxien	3000–2500 BC
Bronze Age (2500–700 BC)	Tarxien Cemetery	2500–1500 BC
	Borġ in-Nadur	1500–700 BC
	Baħrija	900–700 BC

The Tarxien Cemetery phase, from approximately 2500 to 1500 BCE, follows the Tarxien phase, the last phase of the Temple period during which the principal megalithic temples of Malta were built. The culture is characterised not by large-scale temple building, but by dolmens and cremation cemeteries.^[1]

References

1. A. Bonanno, T. Gouder, C. Malone and S. Stoddart (1990) Monuments in an Island Society: The Maltese Context. World Archaeology 22 (2, Monuments and the Monumental, October 1990): 190-205. (subscription required)