Peter, I've reread this, it's a very good article. The artefacts and belief system seems to chime with the Minoan belief system. There seems to be a chain of such structures on all the metal bearing islands, going all the way from Akrotiri base, Cyprus to Iberia and onto the British Isles. I may be able to fill in some of the gaps and I suspect you may be able to fill in some more for me. The Minoan trade in tin may extend all the way to the British Isles! I found a casting stone for double axes in Cumbria! The iconography on new grange entrance stone is Minoan 'Archimedes' spirals. I fell off my chair when I saw this. The Minoans or at least the merchants with the same belief system were in the British Isles. I looked at the DNA data, the highest concentration of Minoan DNA across all Europe is in Britain! There seems to be a chain of trading islands to bring tin into the med around 2500 to 1500 BCE.

I posted this elsewhere it may give you some ideas, thoughts appreciated? Sorry it is a bit long and relates to the organisation of government, but encapsulates the belief systems, that seem relevant to the artefacts you've found at mounds/on metal bearing Malta:

Here is a seal which shows how Minoan Society was organised, it is the model that Greeks later adopted.
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/82472236910560680/
The tree of life (society). To the right are the practical aspects of life. Ruler Lion (Minos), noting the caves which the society originally came from. The Priestess (civil servants) below, noting there are four houses. They seem to have equivalent functions to deities, organised by a mother superior (axis of the earth), with a Griffin on the altar, this is the celestial cone that the earth wobbles within due to precession, rotates backwards every 26,000 years (they would not have observed a full cycle, they would have known that the pole star North was moving 1.4 degrees every century). https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/530087818632348945/
On the left: LIFE in society. The deities represent the time of day, seasons and cardinal directions in a unified system of how the world and celestial bodies actually work. The Earth moves around its own axis once a day and around the sun once a year. It is possible Palace (Government) was organised on similar lines, with the four houses of prestresses having responsibilities for parts of a day, society tasks relating to seasons and/or geographic stations (local Governance or organising diplomatic relations/supply of commodities with trading ports). This can be seen as phases of life, probably also represent the accession into senior positions within Palace life (Government) with experience, many acolytes, some leave to marry, those that stay take on more senior roles (the Wise ones) and then assume the most senior role (in effect Secretaries of State), under Minos direction. I suspect that Greek deities MAY be referring to individual Minos. The society would be perceived as advanced and Minos could have been perceived as a god by other societies in the region – the stories the Minoans told of important people in their society may have transformed into the Greek Parthenon), they were so advanced by comparison (at the time), they brought the most advanced trade goods to port (essential – bronze tools – they controlled the supply of tin), Minos held sway over the Greeks (they couldn’t sail across the med without paying duty).
The Minoan deities (top left) are: Mother EARTH (Gaia) – North, Midnight, Winter Solstice. Her Son, the SUN, Master of [Domesticated] Animals, South, Mid-day, Summer Solstice, Apollo. Apollo’s consort VENUS, East, sun-rise, Spring Equinox. Virgin twin Sister, MOON, sunset West, Autumn Equinox, Mistress of [Wild] Animals: Artemis. The Twins look after the Circle of Animals (The Zodiac constellations, 13 Months – moon phases). Also shown here: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/420453315201842137/
The population are shown bottom left (content), marrying continuing life, some staying home, the pioneers setting up new trading colonies. In Minoan society, property almost certainly passed by the female line, there is probably a good reason for this, many of the men where at sea, the females managed the estate the sailors may not return home. There is gender equality, some of this transferred to the Spartans, but it’s taken three to four millennia for the natural order to re-establish itself again.
Notes: The reason there are so called snake priestesses (holding snakes) is to show the Mother superior’s authority as axis of the Earth pointing to the Pole star Thuban (the snake) and referencing the serpens constellation with snake bearer, next to the home constellation (Crown or bulls horns directly overhead – directly above Crete). The sisters in law generally do get confused as the moon and venus can appear at night or daybreak. These morphs into Athena and Aphrodite (birth) later. There is no mysticism of the underworld, it is just that, the Earth in shadow away from the Sun. The deities are context specific depending on whether it is the time of day, season or direction being referred to. For example, the Twins look after light (sun and moonlight), both show south (the shortest shadow at midday points directly south, Artemis arrow through the crescent points of the moons to the horizon, the same).
The Spartans adopted the idea for a professional army from the Egyptians, however, this is a Minoan concept, but is lost due to the Mycenaean invasion of Crete after Thera, the Minoans had the world first professional military. From the iconography: training camps that Minos would graduate through and another elite service: Carians (lived on Delos and another adjacent Island) that proved Marines detachments for Minos (merchant) navy – board, inspect, levy duty if foreign, they paid no tribute to Minos, they were paid by him (at a celebration to Apollo on Delos – all the islands bring payment in huge head of herds – recorded on the Santorini flotilla Fresco – the so called Ship wreck fresco (is actually part of the same fresco) shows pay day for services rendered!). Carians later changed sides to Greece (a civil war – it was this that lead to the ultimate demise of their society). Carians were accredited (later) as being the most disciplined soldiers, the Spartan tactics to fight as a military unit is from Carian teaching. They introduced battle dances (formations) and innovation of weapons (mostly armour, shields and helmet plumes). The Minoans enjoyed peace in their island home while those on the mainland fought for more land, wealth and power by conquest. It is entirely incorrect that the Minoans were entirely peaceful, they policed the Mediterranean Sea trade routes suppressing piracy, to promote Minoan ‘free’ trade between Europe, Africa and Asia. The Greek idea of Government is based on a memory of a very stable, organised and successful civilisation that preceded it and where the idea of governance to build a successful society came from. The difference is that the Minoans had a leader with a fixed term in office and civil servants to implement new policies quickly, the Greeks to an extent were held back by the infighting and politics of the assembly.
It is worth noting that a natural disaster (volcano) can wreck an advanced society and human nature when basic physiological needs are taken away (food) result in societal collapse, destroying itself. And in came the tyrant – that systematically attempted to destroy all traces of this useful philosophy to organise and safeguard the greater good. The Greek sages may have preserved some of this, but where did they get their ideas from?

Ermm. You can cut the hardest material with the same material. I do not in anyway suggest the ancients did not have an eye for craft and for the arts of professional precision. But, we don't have these issues to deal with, we process things in volume, these techniques don't matter in modern life. They once did and these skills were learned, we just don't fully appreciate the art today. I for one don't see any magic, just lost arts to be rediscovered.

Then again, why do you need to speak French, German or any other language, if you have to put more effort in than you get out.

If his name was Zarathustra in his own time and place, why do you insist on using a western name for him? We all know who you are discussing.

Like this, but then I worked for Andrea Varga. Aerolinen has the similar technical properties to the Glass fibre used for composite engineering. This is actually a very old technology, the Minoans invented Linen Sails (Icurus) and had composite hull ships (supper streamline - fast), made from pine resin, about 7-8 layers of linen and powdered limestone to make them white. This was probably a trade secret as all the other states used wooden hulls, that you could easily distinguish, to probably levy a duty when intercepted. Post some more articles, how linen is processed, technical properties, how its woven etc.

I'm interested in where these ideas originally came from. For example the Spartans were in a real state of civil unrest with a few wealthy families controlling the masses that were about to rebel. The law giver, went to other states (Crete and Egypt) to determine models that might work and consulted the Oracle at Delphi (with Priests of the double axe), sending a Cretan Poet/Bard back to Sparta to lay the ground work for the new system. More details on the architect of Spartan society here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycurgus_of_Sparta This suggests to me that these ideas are not Greek in origin but Minoan and through evolution over three millennia have eventually come back around to the original principles, e.g. equality between the sexes, a strong leader (President or Prime Minister), the US having a fixed 2 term length in office, this is a Minoan concept, Minos had a fixed 8.5 year term. The affairs of state are largely organised by civil servants (priestess in Minoan society) taking direction from the leader, Minos. The appointment of which is by talent, the Minos could have been appointed by trials, being ultimately the ‘last to leave the bull leaping arena’, they needed to be brave and talented and were most likely selection through hard trails by loudest public roar (voting). This society was very stable for two millennia and dominated the region growing wealthy through trade and having a strong military (navy) that were the only fortification that was needed. On learning this the Spartans, pulled down all their city walls (fortifications), the military were the only walls the state needed. Similar there was more equality between the sexes in Sparta than any other Greek state (not by modern day standards, but the principles on which this system was based were – young ladies could jump the bull if they had the talent and inclination), but generally men tended to the heavy agricultural tasks and went to sea and females the lighter tasks and crafts or organised society (Priestess being known as bees, organising the hive, civil servants). It is also interesting to note that Lycurgus travelled to the main minoan trading centres to learn their methods (or what was left of them): Spain (West - tin), South (Eygpt) and Asia minor (India). The Delphic Maxims/Axioms have relevant today for how one should conduct oneself. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphic_maxims Considering these are three or more millennia old there is only one that is politically incorrect today (likely to be of Greek origin). These give insight into the ancient thinking and I must confess they are relevant today.
The Spartans, introduced the system of the commons (voting), the second house (lords or Senate) to veto a proposal. With checks and balances to ensure stability. https://www.quora.com/What-type-of-government-did-Sparta-have
The British system is aligned with the Spartan system of government (with Monarch/Twin Kings of Hercules decent), the American more Athenian (republic). It was impossible for a tyrant to endure the Minos was (probably) put to death after they had served in office to bring in a new leader, so if they did have a detrimental role on society it was limited. The Spartans had checks and balances to ensure a tyrant could not dominate. Absolute Power corrupts absolutely, the systems are setup to limit a tyrant from ever being able to continue to acquire absolute power. The Queen, by example assembles the government, but plays no part in Politics. It doesn’t matter what these systems are but they all have the same purpose.
Now consider the Greek Parthenon, the Gods hale from the Cyclades islands, but the Minoans don’t believe in them themselves, they are just rulers, the Minoan belief system is actually just describing how the celestial bodies actually work (Mother Earth, Venus, Sun, Moon). The world would now be a lot further along if Thera had not erupted. It has taken three and half millennia to get back to these accepted principles. There are distinct advantages to living on an island, you avoid the infighting between kingdoms and can advance society for the greater good of everyone.

Wikipedia reads:
In 1674 a Captain John Nisbet claimed to have seen the island when on a journey from France to Ireland, stating that the island was inhabited by large black rabbits and a magician who lived alone in a stone castle, yet the character and the story were a literary invention by Irish author Richard Head.

That Fart God could've just been a smelly Sasquatch

RE: "East Africa had--by about 320,000 years ago--begun using color pigments and manufacturing more sophisticated tools (below right) than those of the Early Stone Age handaxes"
I am the eye witness. I have spent months in Tanzania (Mt Kilimanjaro, Ngorongoro, Tarangeti, Serengeti, Oldupai, Stonetown, Arusha, Dar Es Salaam) and southern Kenya, I CAN attest this - people's from India have ruled, enslaved, taxed, employed the peoples of East Africa. Look for evidence of evolution of intelligence in the masters.
From personal experience, I saw peoples content in men begging alongside highways (built by Japanese, Portuguese, Dutch tourism companies) chatteling women and women tending flocks, gathering firewood and collecting water. My last excursion 6 years ago revealed no material change in "cities" more like slums, and culture than the first trip 20 years ago.
Provided the native tribes developed in intellect rapidly after eons in this diatribe, the advancements today come from outside influences and NOT the locals.
FACTS are facts. Question me.