Archaeologists sifting through rubbish dumped by prehistoric people at a temple site in Corradino are finding clues that shed light on the people's living habits 5,000 years ago.  

While a couple of decades ago archaeologists would have focused on the temple itself, a team led by Caroline Malone, from Queen’s University, Belfast, has for the past three weeks been looking for clues scattered in the soil around it.

Students from the University of Malta are digging through the soil where prehistoric people dumped their litter, and finding pottery fragments and animal bones and molars.  

People first settled here about 7,000 years ago and the megalithic temples started being built by 3600BC.

One of the less known temple sites, Kordin III, saw its first main excavation completed by Thomas Ashby in 1909. This temple used to form part of three sites on the Corradino promontory. Unfortunately, the other two suffered damage and the industrial estate was built over them.

Kordin III, managed by Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna, consists of two temples, the larger one having a standard three-apse plan, typical of the Ġgantija phase. The most notable feature in this site is a unique 2.75 metre-long trough in one of the apses. The function of this boat-like object remains a mystery.

Behind the temple-like structures there are some small rooms, which is where Prof. Malone’s team is excavating. 

The excavations form part of a larger five-year project called ‘Fragility and sustainability in restricted island environments: adaptation, culture change and collapse in prehistory’.

On Monday, the team at Corradino will be holding guided tours on the hour between 8am and noon. Visitors can park their car off the site, near St Anthony of Padua church. Kordin III is opposite the Mariam Al-Batool Mosque on Corradino Road.