Of course, the ruins have long been recognized on the landscape of Malta and Gozo, and the earliest descriptions we have of them date to the 16th century. The Brochtorff Circle (also called the Xhagra Circle) was excavated by Charles de Brochtorff in the early 19th century (1820-1825), and Themistocles Zammit excavated in the early 20th century at Hal Saflieni and Tarxien.
The first systematic work on the temples was conducted by John D. Evans in the 1950s; Colin Renfrew completed work there in the 1970s. The Anglo-Maltese Gozo Project fieldwork project began in 1987 led by A. Bonanno, Caroline Malone and Simon Stoddart.
Only two residential occupations have been excavated to date on Malta and none on Gozo. Although one dates to the Pre-Temple phase (excavated by David Trump in 1966) and one during the Temple Period (Malone et al, in 1988), they are very similar. These excavations showed that the people on Malta and Gozo lived in small oval or round huts built of stone and daub, requiring frequent rebuilding. In comparison, the temples were massive, visually prominent and took lots of labor to build them. The fact that there are so few occupations excavated to date is probably because they were so small and ephemeral that they are hard to find.
Sources
See the Malta Temples bibliography for more information.
