Editing History of Malta (section)

==Neolithic (5900 BC–3850 BC)==
{{further|Cardium pottery culture}}
While until recently, it was believed that Malta's first inhabitants arrived in the islands in 5700 BC, it has now been established that this occurred around 5900&nbsp;BC, as is evidenced by studies of ancient soils.<ref name=TimesMalta-2018-03-16/><ref name="Farrugia-2020-03-19" /> These first [[Neolithic]] people have generally been assumed to have arrived from Sicily (about {{convert|80|km|mi|abbr=off|disp=or}} north),{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} but DNA analysis shows that they originated from different parts of the Mediterranean, including both Europe and Africa.<ref name=TimesMalta-2018-03-16/>

They were mainly farming and fishing communities, with some evidence of hunting activities. They apparently lived in caves and open dwellings. During the centuries that followed there is evidence of further contacts with other cultures, which left their influence on the local communities, evidenced by their pottery designs and colours.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} The farming methods degraded the soil; at the same time prolonged drought set in, and the islands became too dry to sustain agricultural practices. This occurred partly due to climate change and drought, and the islands were uninhabited for about a millennium.<ref name=TimesMalta-2018-03-16>{{cite news |title=700&nbsp;years added to Malta's history |date=16 March 2018 |newspaper=Times of Malta |language=en-GB |url=https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20180316/life-features/700-years-added-to-maltas-history.673498 |url-status=live |access-date=2021-03-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316111529/https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20180316/life-features/700-years-added-to-maltas-history.673498 |archive-date=16 March 2018}}</ref>

Research carried out as part of the FRAGSUS project, comprising analysis of soil cores from valleys, which contained ancient pollen and animal evidence from past environments, revealed that "climate change fluctuations made Malta uninhabitable in some periods of prehistory. There was a substantial break of around 1,000&nbsp;years between the first settlers and the next group who settled permanently on the Maltese islands and eventually built the megalithic temples."<ref name=TimesMalta-2018-03-16/>