Look closely at the block to the left of the apse step. It’s marked with spiral, snaky patterns that often decorate parts of these temples. A similar stone, which has now been moved into Malta’s National Museum of Archaeology for protection, shows a beautifully carved snake. Snakes are common motifs in Stone Age sacred spaces and are thought to represent the underworld, death, and rebirth. The association comes from the fact that snakes have a habit of slithering into holes in the earth and shedding their skin.