Eighty-two years ago prehistoric remains were discovered in Mgarr after a mound of earth was sighted in a field. It was called Ta’ Hagrat and as with Malta’s other temples, which are generally found in pairs, this too had a partner - Skorba temple lying just one kilometre away.
Malta’s first director of museums, Sir Temi Zammit, excavated this find in 1925. The site was thought to be of minor importance even though distinctive pottery was found. In the early 60s however, further work was carried out by David Trump - curator of archaeology between 1958 and 1963 at the then National Museum of Malta - who uncovered a unique find: a small model of a temple made from limestone.
He dated the larger temple between 3600 and 3000 BC while the smaller one at 3300 and 3000 BC. A flight of steps between the two temples is thought to have provided access to an oracle hole at ceiling level in the inner apse of the larger temple.
Skorba, dug up in the 1960s, provides ample information because of its very late excavation. A 3-apsed temple, Skorba was built around the same time as the Ggantija Temples – around 3600 and 3200 BC. Perforated stone paving at the entrance, a high coralline limestone slab and a step covered by pitted decoration can be seen on this site.
An exposed length of wall, almost straight, was the earliest piece of structure that was identified on this site. It was thought to be for domestic use as the floors are irregular and no hearths are present. On display at the National Museum of Archaeology are figurines which were found grouped together in the northern room. This find suggests that the site had also a religious function and was therefore a predecessor to all the other temples found centuries later.
Some huts were also discovered by the west of the temple. Several hand-operated mills for grinding grain, made out of coralline limestone, were found in one of these huts. Objects made from flint, others from chert (a compact rock consisting of microcrystalline quartz) and also volcanic glass similar to granite, were also found.
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