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According to archaeological findings, the islands of Malta were joined to Sicily and Africa in the Pleistocene epoch. At the time, the Mediterranean was a pasture land inhabited by a rich selection of animal and plant species. Sometime in the early Palaeolithic period, the island had been disconnected from North Africa but was still part of Italy. The separation resulted in some species of animals being trapped on both sides of the gap.
However, the topic of prehistoric man on Malta is still very debatable, despite the presence of cave drawings and microliths that all point to Palaeolithic-era man's presence on Malta . What is more certain, though, is that man arrived on the islands around 5200 BC. The earliest settlers showed a similarity to the Monte Kronio culture in Sicily, Italy. After some time, the Maltese settlers established a community in a cave and grew into the Ghar Dalam culture. They were agricultural in nature, growing barley, wheat, and lentils. Some were also fisher folk and hunters.
Sometime during the fourth millennium BC, or around 4000 BC, the existing Maltese culture constructed sites and structures of a religious nature. These structures are of a singular quality, unparalleled by any other structure that was discovered belonging to the same era and even predating the Sumerian and Egyptian work. In fact, the noted British archaeologist Colin Renfrew wrote, in his book Before Civilization , that the earliest architecturally conceived exterior in the world is the facade of the Ggantija Temple on the northern Maltese island of Gozo. The very same temple is also said to be the earliest free-standing structure in the world. Also, the temples at Hagar Qim on Malta Island are said to be the earliest examples of the use of dressed stone in human prehistory.
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In the late Bronze Age, the so-called temple culture of Malta collapsed and gave way to a new culture that shared some similarities with those of early Greek and Italian cultures. It is suspected that these cultures were intermixed with Maltese culture as a result of migrations to and from the neighboring lands.
Beginning about 400 BC, the islands were controlled by the Romans. Around 60 AD, St. Paul was shipwrecked on Malta. The actual place is known as St. Paul's Bay today. The Roman Empire fell and Malta was conquered by the Sicilian Arabs in 870 AD. The Arabs influenced much of Maltese culture and this influence is present to this very day: the Maltese language has roots in Arabic, many cities and towns in Malta have Arabic names, and some of the existing towns and cities bear a striking resemblance to other Arab settlements of the time.
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In around 1127 AD, the Norman monarch Roger II of Sicily managed to establish Norman rule in Malta. This event started a slow and gradual transition from Arab influence to European influence. The Norman rule came under threat of Turkish invasion in around 1530, and King Charles V gave control of the Maltese islands to the Knights Hospitallers of St. John. This order came to be known simply as the Knights of Malta, and the knights of the order succeeded in defending Malta against various Turkish attempts at invasion, most notably the Great Siege of 1565.
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The following years were tumultuous for Malta and its people. Malta became a member of the British Empire in 1814, but due to economic troubles, some autonomy was granted to the Maltese. Malta came under attack during World War II, as it was right in the shipping lanes of the Axis nations. Italy made Malta one of its prime targets at the start of the war. After the war, Malta went back to its place under direct British rule, but this did not last long as complete independence was granted to Malta in 1964. In 1974, Malta became recognized as a republic. By 1979, the last of the British occupants had left Malta, and in 2004, Malta became a full-fledged member of the European Union.
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