Malta has been inhabited since 6400 BC initially by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, who were replaced by Neolithic farmers from Sicily around 5400 BC. These farmers practised mixed farming after clearing most of the existing conifer forest that dominated the islands, but their agricultural methods degraded the soil until the islands became uninhabitable.
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Neolithic Farmers from Sicily arrived on Malta by around 5400 BC, replacing the pre-existing hunter-gatherer population.
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The Ġgantija temples on Gozo are among the world's oldest free-standing structures, predating Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids.
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After the Temple period came the Bronze Age. From this period, there are remains of a number of settlements and villages, as well as dolmens — altar-like structures made out of very large slabs of stone. They are claimed to belong to a population certainly different from that which built the previous megalithic temples.
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Malta came under Roman rule in 218 BC during the Second Punic War, beginning centuries of Roman influence on the islands.
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