Hal Tarxian is a neolithic site with an estimated beginning of construction around 3800 BCE, over 5000 years ago. A point of comparison, the very first pyramid, the stepped pyramid in Saqqara, was built tin 3400 BCE a full 400 years after the Hal Tarxizn site was being built. There were very large stone slabs were used in the building of the walls. Even the paving stones were quite large. There were several items out of place. A concrete lintel placed over the two main gate pillars in 1957 as was the practice back in the day. Some walls were also reconstructed in a more modern style when the original excavation was conduced in 1957. However these constructions were minor and the main sections were still very much intact. When we got down into the thick of the site the size of the slabs and stones really impressed us.
A very extensive "teaching" garden
Some walls are original and some were "rebuilt" in the 1957 style
It is a large area covered by a huge industrial style cover
The big slabs are all "in situ"
The rounded areas reminded me of the circular houses in Ireland
A small scale model of the site made with small stones
The folks in the center for scale
This area is the oldest and since it is at the highest altitude, it has suffered the most damage.
A mock up of the jars found during the excavation
Some climate monitors right in the thick of things
The holes in the rocks indicated doors or screens
These big slabs are interlocked
The walkways between are so level because gigantic slabs that were used as paving stones
The faint outline of a bison
A pig and piglets
A pit in a ceremonial cremation area
Interconnected
A spiral decoration on a recent carved stone
This huge bowl, reassembled
There is evidence that these stones curve inward and may have met in the middle as a roof structure
The 1957 top of the gate
Door connections?
Looks like an altar
Here are the original spiral decorations
This design was repeated on the gates to the area
Very fancy
This rock was solid and then carved out to create a sacred cubby hole
The top of the rock
What might this be?
This remnant of a huge sculpture is already 6 feet tall!
In the gift shop this figurine must be similar to the one outside
The youngest region built 750 years later is the best preserved
Looking back at the site
The spirals from the stones were reused for the design of the gates
A modern cemetery
A big dome in town
Knockers!
Bonkers for knockers
Rude coffee cups
Not purchased
Two different clocks again. The time seemed off
But this one was not a clock, it is a calendar
This actual clock was displaying the correct time
Fantastic wooden doors
Some darker clouds
A very fancy McLaurin car
An Aston Martin
Not so fancy place for a hen party picture
Tight rope walking
Why the clipboard?
More grand buildings
Little pink tails
Cutie!
