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Ghar Dalam, or the 'Cave of
Darkness', gives its name to the first phase of Maltese prehistory (5000 -
4500BC). The cave was one of the earliest sites used by Neolithic man who
crossed to the Maltese islands from Sicily around 5000BC. Even more
remarkable than the evidence of prehistoric man was the discovery of
thousands of fossilised animal bones.
The cave was discovered in 1865 by an Italo-German palaeontologist.
Excavations revealed that the floor of the cave has five different layers.
In the lower layers were enormous quantities of fossilised bones, tusks and
teeth belonging to extinct species - such as dwarf elephants and dwarf
hippopotami - along with red deer, brown bears, wolves, foxes and giant
swans. In the upper layers archaeologists found flint tools, slingstones
and pottery which had been decorated with the rippled edge of seashells or
by pointed sticks or bones.
Long before archaeologists took any interest in this site, the remains of
other prehistoric animals had been discovered elsewhere on the islands. In
the distant past local Maltese believed they were the bones of giants who
were supposed to have built the island's megalithic temples.
The Ghar Dalam cave is a wide, low tunnel which cuts 140m into the
coralline limestone. Visitors can walk 80m into the cave, aided by electric
lighting, and there are useful explanations of what was discovered where.
On the cave bed you can still see layers of bone deposits.
At the entrance of the site a small museum displays a fascinating
collection of teeth, tusks and bones from the thousands of animals found
here. Interesting reconstructions show the size of extinct species such as
the dwarf elephant.
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