No matter how many times you have been to Għar Dalam, it is unlikely that you have ever visited it under a full moon. Heritage Malta will be holding an event, which in itself is a one-off opportunity to experience Għar Dalam and its surroundings at night.

The event will be held on Friday, 31 July at 7pm and will feature presentations by John J. Borg, senior curator Natural History and Paul Portelli, site executive of Għar Dalam as well as a moonlight tour of the site and cave followed by a light meal.

Għar Dalam's relevance as a prehistoric site was discovered in the latter half of the 19th century with a series of excavations unearthing animal bones as well as human remains and artifacts. The cave is a highly important site for its paalaeontology, archaeology and ecology.

The history of the cave and that of the Islands can be decoded from Għar Dalam's stratigraphy. The lowermost layers, more than 500,000 years old, contained the fossil bones of dwarf elephants, hippopotami, micro-mammals and birds, among other species. This layer is topped by a pebble layer and on top of it there is the so-called "deer" layer, dated to around 18,000 years ago. The top layer or "cultural layer", dates less than 10,000 years and holds evidence of the first humans on the Island. It was here that the earliest evidence of human settlement on Malta, some 7,400 years ago, was discovered.

The site consists of a cave, a Victorian style exhibition and a didactic display as well as a garden planted with indigenous plants and trees.

Tickets at €12 for adults and €10 for seniors, students, Heritage Malta members and children under 12 years of age are available from all Heritage Malta sites and museums and online from http://shop.heritagemalta.org. For more information one may call on 2165 7419 or follow Heritage Malta's official facebook page.