The purpose of this study was to investigate the literature concerning the worship of the Great Goddess, to examine the Maltese and Scottish megalithic structures built to her, and to create a large sculpture inspired by the findings of the research.

The subproblems consisted of studying the literature concerned with the religion of the Great Goddess using an aesthetic-historical focus; investigating and comparing, through the literature and firsthand, the form and meaning of the Maltese and Scottish structures; examining these structures as sculptures as well as architecture; and creating a large sculpture inspired by the aesthetic and historical meaning of the megalithic structures.

The following conclusions were reached. (1) The evidence presented indicates that a Great Goddess was prevalent during the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods in many parts of Europe and Asia. The power of this Goddess was thwarted and eventually usurped during the Bronze Age by a hierarchical polytheism dominated by a male god. (2) Although there is no direct proof that the Scottish or even Maltese structures were built to worship a Great Goddess, their form, location, internal spatial arrangement, associated finds, inscriptions, and sheer number, suggest strong religious beliefs centered on a cult of the dead and on a deity of death and of fertility--a female. (3) In addition to broad similarities between Maltese and Scottish megaliths which suggest a common ancestry, certain structures share particular similarities, indicating a more definite relationship. Moreover, the presence of unique features either in the parietal art or in the artifacts of the structures--oculi and bull motifs in Scottish cairns and in Maltese temples and tombs, miniature axes and stone balls--seem to indicate similar religious beliefs. (4) An indirect relationship between Maltese and Scottish structures is also suggested by the fact that while in Malta there is evidence of developing architectural and sculptural forms, in Scotland the forms appear already evolved.

The large size, simple mound-like exterior shape, and focus on the humanoid internal space of the researcher's sculpture, is intended to evoke the function and meaning of the Maltese and Scottish megaliths as visual symbols of the Great Goddess.