The catacombs at Għar Gerduf in Kerċem are once again under threat from development as the reactivation of a development application to build a house near the site would lead to the blocking of the entrance and the view of the historic remains.
They remain Gozo's only surviving Roman catacombs and, with the development failing to adhere to a buffer zone of 100-metres, an objection campaign is underway to halt the works in their place.
After the government bought up €400,000 worth of land in the area through expropriation to aid in the protection of the site earlier this year, the Planning Authority seems to have found it acceptable to accept the aforementioned application.
Apart from having a 100m buffer zone, Għar Gerduf is also protected as a Class A category (as from October 2000), as stated in government records.
The Planning Directorate, however, assessed the site as a Class B archaeological area.
Discovery and Previous Attempts to Develop
In June of 2017, the Planning Authority said, in reaction to a statement by NGO Wirt Għawdex, that excavation works that were being carried out in the vicinity were being closely monitored by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage.
The PA had said that the ongoing development lay within the Development Zone Boundaries, in an area designated for residential use. The site fell within a Class B Archaeological Buffer Zone in view of the Għar Għerduf catacombs which were in the vicinity.
Unearthed in 2009, the two 5000-year-old tombs were discovered during extension work being carried out at the parish priest's house in Kercem, with pottery also being found on-site, were identified as belonging to the Tarxien phase of Maltese prehistory.
Although the rock-cut tombs may have been discovered during the construction of the Kercem parish church between 1846 and 1851, they remained undisturbed for another 163 years, before their re-discovery in 2008.
The tombs were uncovered when the site was being cleared of debris, and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage immediately took steps to protect the site. A temporary cover was installed to provide shelter from the rain, and the site was monitored and allowed to dry for an entire year.
The rock-cut chambers have a circular plan and were probably accessed through a special shaft or a roof entrance. One of the chambers has a small annex, which still contained fully articulated skeletons.
The rock-cutting techniques used at the Kercem tombs are reminiscent of those used at the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, including drilling and levering techniques to crack stone and carefully shape the burial chambers.
Several drill holes can still be seen in the chamber walls, which were also smoothened down, perhaps by using hard pebbles. A small rock-cut column marked the entrance to the small annex whose floor is lower than that of the main chamber.
Pottery fragments are abundant at the Kercem tombs, which consist of fine ware vessels and coarse ware containers. Most of them date back to the Tarxien phase and repeat many of the designs known from that period.
A number of blades made of local chert were also discovered, as were small flakes of Sicilian flint. Future investigations will focus on pathology, carbon dating and if possible, on the more elusive DNA of the human remains.