Archaeological remains to be found in Ta’ Sannat village and/or within its limits.
The archaeological remains one finds at Ta’ Sannat are mostly, and almost
uniquely, remains of the prehistoric period and these are all concentrated at Ta’
Ċenċ in the limits of the same village. The oldest among these remains are
those of that which is known as Tal-Imramma Temples. These remains, which towards
the beginning of the 20th century have been investigated and studied by the Jesuit
scholar Fr. Manwel Magri S.J. and also by the German scholar Albrecht Mayr, date
back to the prehistoric phase known as Mġarr phase (3800-3600 B.C.). These remains,
which include also a menhir (a monument-like vertical stone), belong to a structure
which may have been a temple as its name does indicate. The plan of this structure
is very irregular and is uncommon.
Two other archaeological monuments which are also very important at Ta’ Ċenċ are
the two dolmens, one known as Id-Dura tax-Xaghra l-Kbira and the other known as
Id-Dura tal-Mara. These are very likely to be two funerary structures, i.e. they
were probably used for burial purposes. They consist of three vertical stones on
which rests a horizontal slab. The archaeologist Dr David Trump also discovered
remains of what he identified as a gallery grave which looks like an elongated dolmen.
These dolmens, of which there were previously more at Ta’ Ċenċ but which, unfortunately,
did not survive, are not as old as the remains of Tal-Imramma Temple. They belong,
in fact, to the Bronze Age (2500-700 B.C.) and date back to the prehistoric phase
known as Tarxien Cemetery phase (2500-1500 B.C.).
In various locations at Ta’ Ċenċ, one also encounters various pairs of cart-ruts,
sometimes even intersecting each other. Their nature is difficult to determine but,
normally, both at Ta’ Ċenċ and even in other places in Malta and Gozo where they
are to be found, they are always associated with stone / rock quarrying.
Their dating is also very difficult. They can possibly date back to the Bronze Age,
although the possibility of having remained in use even during the Classical (i.e.
Punic and/or Roman) period is not excluded.
