15. Predating the Egyptian Pyramids by more than one thousand years, the Megalithic Temples of Malta continue to defy explanation
Gozo, also known as Għawdex and historically as Gaulos, is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and part of the Maltese archipelago. The second largest in said island chain, the rural island has long been closely associated with Greek mythology, in particular as Ogygia: the island home of Calypso, who holds Odysseus captive for many years during his voyage home in the Odyssey. Likely inspiring these ancient religious connections, Malta is home to several megalithic temples that were, until the discovery of Göbekli Tepe, regarded as the oldest free-standing structures in the world.
The eldest of these ancient buildings, the Ġgantija temples on the island of Gozo, believed to have been constructed between 3600 and 2500 BCE, predate the Egyptian pyramids by more than one thousand years. Erected during the Neolithic period, both temples, and an incomplete third, are arranged to face the equinox sun, suggesting their ceremonial use as part of ancient fertility rites. Quite how the giant stones were so precisely manipulated in a time before the wheel remains a matter of debate, with evidence indicating the use of tiny stone ball-bearings as a means of aiding transportation.