Għar Dalam
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox ancient site
Għar Dalam (Template:IPA; "Cave of Dalam", Dalam being a fifteenth-century family name)Template:Ref is a 144-metre long phreatic tube and cave,<ref name=":0" /> located in the outskirts of Birżebbuġa, Malta. The cave contains the bones of animals that lived on Malta during the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs. It has lent its name to the Għar Dalam phase in Maltese prehistory, and is viewed as one of Malta's most important national monuments.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Pottery similar to that found in Stentinello was found at Għar Dalam, but lacking details such as stamp decorations.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Dwarf elephant, hippopotamus, giant swan, deer and bear bone deposits found there are of different ages. The deer species became extinct much later, about 4,000 years ago during the Chalcolithic.<ref>J.D. Evans The Prehistoric Antiquities of the Maltese Islands p. 241</ref> Until 2025, Għar Dalam was thought to have the earliest evidence of human settlement on Malta, some 7,400 years ago.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Recent history
The cave was first investigated for its Neolithic remains in 1865, with excavations by Italian palaeontologist Arturo Issel.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref> An excavation was carried out in 1892 by John H. Cooke. The bulk of this material was stored in Malta, while a comparative collection was sent to the British Museum.<ref name=":0" /> This material was studied by Forsyth Major in 1902, who isolated a new dwarf species of dwarf hippopotamus, Hippopotamus melitensis, based on these findings.
The cave was included on the Antiquities List of 1925,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but was not opened to the public until March 1933.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite book</ref> A museum was set up on site by the then-Curator of Natural History, Joseph Baldacchino. Within a year of his appointment as curator in 1935, Baldacchino published a booklet on Għar Dalam, highlighting the main excavations and investigations of the cave.<ref name=":2" /> The museum was slowly upgraded, new specimens replacing the old, and a labelling system set in place.<ref name=":2" />
The showcases around the walls of the Għar Dalam museum house the skeletal remains found in the cave.<ref name=":1" /> These are organised by species and type. The showcases in the centre of the museum's room contain complete skeletons of modern examples of deer, elephant and other species.<ref name=":1" /> These were not found in the cave, but imported as reference specimens for the use of scholars working on the fossil examples.<ref name=":1" />
It was used as an air-raid shelter during World War II. In 1980, the most important and irreplaceable relics—such as four tusks of dwarf elephants and the skull of a Neolithic child—were stolen from the museum.
The cave is some Template:Convert deep but only the first Template:Convert are accessible to visitors. The museum, which still exhibits a remarkable wealth of finds from animal bones to human artifacts, is the entrance to the whole area.
Għar Dalam Cave and Museum is operated by Heritage Malta. In 2019, a project was announced to improve the physical accessibility between Għar Dalam, Ta’ Kaċċatura, Borġ in-Nadur, and other sites which are in close proximity to one another.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite news</ref>
Stratigraphy
The cave consists of a number of sequential layers, which have been dated using radiometric techniques.<ref name=":42">D'Souza, L. C. An endemic radiation of deer in the Late Pleistocene of Malta 1 Oct 2019 PhD Thesis, University of Bristol pp. 21-27 30, 33, 38-39, 294, 299-305</ref>
| Layer number<ref name=":42" /> | Layer names<ref name=":42" /> | Age<ref name=":42" /> | Description<ref name=":42" /> | Faunal remains<ref name=":42" /> | Notes<ref name=":42" /> |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| II | Upper domestic animals/pottery layer
cave earth layer |
Holocene (2,700 years ago-recent) | "dark red clay" | Domestic animals (cow, sheep, goat, pig, cat), equine (Equus sp.), possible deer (?Cervus sp) black rat, house mouse, rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) shrew (Crocidura russula), wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), tortoise (Testudo sp.) lizard (Chalcides ocellatus) frogs and toads (Discoglossus pictus, Bufo viridis) | Also contains pottery, and other human artifacts, as well as human remains |
| III | Lower domestic animals/pottery layer
small stones/pebbles layer |
Holocene (around 7,200 - 2,700 years ago) | "dark grey earth, sub-angular stones and pebbles" | ||
| IV | Upper Red Earth
(Cervus stage) |
Late Pleistocene (after 116,300/103,800 years ago for onset of deposition, before 80,100 years ago for onset of deposition of sublayer IVc, and between 80,100 and 23-20,000 years ago for deposition of sublayer IVb)Template:Efn | "deep vegetable soil with alternating brown-red and white layers. 5+ divisions by stalagmitic plates/torba floors" | Deer (likely 3 endemic species of Cervus<ref name=":42" />) bovine (Bos sp.) equine (Equus sp.) vole (Pitymys melitensis) shrew (Crocidura sp.), bats, turtle (Emys orbicularis), toad (Bufo bufo), birds | Remains much less mineralised and worn than those of the breccia/Hippopotamus layer. |
| V | Lower Red Earth
(Carnivora Stage) |
late Middle Pleistocene (167,300 to 151,200 years ago) | Dwarf elephant (Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis and/or Palaeoloxodon sp<ref name=":32">V.L. Herridge Dwarf Elephants on Mediterranean Islands: A Natural Experiment in Parallel Evolution. PhD Thesis, Vol 1. p. 135 University College London (2010)</ref>) Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus pentlandi) deer (Cervus cf. elaphus and Cervus cf. barbarus) red fox (Vulpes vulpes), wolf (Canis lupus), brown bear (Ursus cf. arctos), vole (Pitymys melitensis), shrew (Crocidura sp.) bats, turtle (Emys orbicularis), toad (Bufo bufo), birds | ||
| VI | Pebble layer | Middle Pleistocene (prior to 165,900 years ago) | "rolled pebbles in red clay" | None | |
| VII | Bone breccia layer
Hippopotamus layer |
Middle Pleistocene (prior to 165,900 years ago) | "light green to brown clay, consolidated to breccia in outer regions" | Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus pentlandi, Hippopotamus melitensis)
Dwarf elephant (Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis and/orPalaeoloxodon sp<ref name=":32" />), deer (Cervus cf. elaphus)<ref name=":42" /> possible equine (Equus sp?) shrew (cf. Crocidura russula) dormice (Maltamys/Eliomys) bats, birds including Cygnus falconeri |
Bones strongly mineralised and dark in colour and heavily water worn/rolled, so that they resemble pebbles. |
| VIII | Detritral Clay layer
Sterile layer |
Early-Middle Pleistocene (prior to 167,000 years ago) | "plastic laminated clay, yellowish blue colour" | None |
Notes
- [A].Template:Note Buhagiar (2007) notes that the name Għar Dalam does not mean the 'Cave of Darkness', as would be the case in Arabic, but the 'Cave of Dalam,' or 'of the Dalam family.'<ref name=":4">Template:Cite book</ref> The surname Dalam is attested in 15th century records.<ref name=":4" />