“You’re not going to believe us! It’s not a joke and it’s not just hippos we saw. There were also elephants, deer and some other species. Incredible! We want to go again because it was really amazing.”
Mark and Roberta couldn’t be more excited. They were talking to some other friends back at school about their morning visit to Ghar Dalam. What they saw in the museum and the cave was simply beyond their imagination. They have just been to a valley which used to be the home of some magnificent creatures, hundreds of thousands of years ago.
Ghar Dalam is situated deep down in a steep valley close to the southern seaside village of Birzebbuga. The cave is said to have kept a well hidden secret for a very long time - a story which reveals the earliest traces of life on our islands. The place goes back to the time when elephants, hippopotami, and deer could easily cross from nearby Sicily down to Malta. Seems strange but it’s true!
How did the animals travel to Malta? Surely not on board ships! Neither did they swim the whole stretch of water that separates Malta from Sicily. Due to various climatic circumstances, hundred of thousands of years ago, the sea level was so low that the bumps on the sea bed were exposed, forming what we call land bridges. Therefore the large mammals that we see today on TV were able to cross from one part of Europe to another with a bit of effort thanks to these land bridges.
How do we know about the time of the elephants in Malta? Ghar Dalam’s different layers represent various periods in the history of our islands. Elephant and hippopotamus remains are said to be around 500,000 years old, while deer remains date back to around 18,000 years ago. The top layer representing the period which is closer to us contained evidence of the first humans on the island going back some 7,000 years.
Where now is the valley a river used to flow, by time revealing a large crack in the rocks. Water currents eroded the crack to such an extent that a large cave today we call Ghar Dalam has been formed. The remains of dead mammals were swept by water currents and slowly settled on the riverbed and into the cavities, including the said cave. When the river dried up, mammal remains were sort of packed into the cave and covered with sediment such as mud and stones. In other words, Ghar Dalam was turned into a safe store for thousands of years until it was time to bring those remains back to the surface.
The remains which have been excavated from the cave can now be seen in the museum built on top of the valley. The vast amount of specimens and information which have been collected through this important site is amazing. Huge bones, tusks, teeth and fossils provide us with enough inspiration to paint a picture in our heads of how the valley was like hundreds of thousands of years ago when those magnificent creatures grazed freely on Maltese soil!
By now Mark and Roberta’s friends were on top of the world. Their eyes sparkled with excitement and they just could not wait to visit this wonderful cave. Roberta told her friends about the stalactites and stalagmites they saw inside the cave and about the plants, including Widnet il-Bahar, growing in the small garden above which is also home to various insects and lizards. While talking to her friends, Roberta flipped the colourful pages of the workbook that was given to her during the visit and she explained how they were allowed to carry out the tasks in the workbook on site. Maybe that is why she could still recall her experience with so much detail!
Mark described the wonderful time they had excavating the sand pits. He was very proud that his group had managed to find the largest animal bone on that day! It was by far the largest bone discovered by any of the other student groups. Mark also described how much he enjoyed watching the audio-visual presentation about the history of the cave. All in all it was a wonderful experience both for Mark, Roberta and all their classmates. They enjoyed it so much that they have managed to pass the excitement on to their numerous friends.
Article provided by Heritage Malta
School groups may avail themselves of this most enjoyable learning experience by contacting Heritage Malta’s Education Unit on 2295 4326. The visit and accompanying workbook are free of charge. Other museum learning programmes are available at the Inquisitor’s Palace, Maritime Museum, Palace Armoury, National Museum of Fine Arts, Tarxien Temples and National Museum of Natural History.