Source Texts
Text
Maltese lithic (stone implement) assemblages from the sixth and seventh millennia BCE exhibit notable characteristics. Nearly all implements were fashioned from limestone—mostly from beach cobbles—rather than superior chert or obsidian, and the assemblages predominantly comprise flakes produced through direct percussion, with negligible representation of cores, blades, or retouched tools. The fairly rudimentary nature of Malta’s lithic industry parallels contemporaneous Sardinian technologies rather than the sophisticated geometric microlith traditions documented in neighboring Sicily.