Archaeological evidence suggests that Man reached the Maltese Islands some seven millennia ago when the Neolithic or New Stone Age Man (5000-3750 BC) migrated to Malta from Sicily. With him he brought grains, domestic animals and impressed pottery. He would have lived in caves, cultivated fertile fields, fished in the abundant sea, and owing to the lack of large predatory animals – hunted without risk to his own life. His presence is evidenced in Skorba (outskirts of Żebbiegħ in Malta) and Għar Dalam.
Another wave of mass immigrants, probably also from Sicily, saw the arrival of the Temple Builder (3750-2300 BC) – who left behind a legacy of Menhirs, Dolmens, Stone circles and 15 discovered Temples – some of which predate the pyramids and even Stonehenge in Wiltshire. As with Stonehenge, the exact purpose of many of these structures as well as the manner in which they were constructed is still a source of mystery to scientists. These temples include Ġgantija in Gozo, Ħaġar Qim, the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum (Paola), Mnajdra, and the Tarxien cemetery. More are to be found at Żebbuġ and Mġarr.
After 2200 BC, Malta appears to have been uninhabited for a few centuries until the arrival of the Bronze Age man who inhabited Malta from around 1400 BC until 800 BC. Evidence of Bronze Age Man can be seen at Borġ in-Nadur near Marsaxlokk, Naffara in Gozo, and especially from the ancient Cart Tracks that stretch all over Malta and Gozo to give their silent testimony to the journeys of a long-gone civilisation.