Malta: Submerged Landscapes and Early Navigation

Abstract

The island of Malta is best known for its spectacular stone temples built by Neolithic farmers about 6000 years ago, who traded regularly with Sicily and other areas in the central Mediterranean. At a distance of over 100 km to the nearest continental land mass, it is generally assumed that Malta was uninhabited before the Neolithic period and was then occupied by competent Neolithic seafaring colonists. However, radiocarbon-dated pollen assemblages from fluvial sediments indicate an earlier phase of Maltese prehistory that preceded the period of the temple builders and included agriculture at a time when sea level was c. 6 m lower than the present day. These submerged coasts would have served as landing places for early navigators and offered fertile land nearby, but they have not yet been subject to systematic underwater archaeological survey. There is also the possibility of even earlier habitation at a time when Malta was connected to Sicily by dry land. Keywords

The Innovative and State of the Art Public Access Management of Malta’s Underwater Cultural Heritage

“…The earliest ceramic remains from the site of Ghar Dalam on Malta provide evidence of human occupation that can be traced to 7000 cal BP. The ceramic evidence shares decorative elements with the Neolithic occupation of Stentinello, Sicily, providing a maritime connection between the two islands [1,2]. The megalithic stone remains, or 'temples', of Malta's Late Neolithic period (6100-4500 cal BP), have been described as having 'a very special relationship to the sea' [3] (p. 260).…”

“…The sea levels of Late Neolithic Malta were the same as today, and Grima (2005) [3] argued that the distribution of monuments in the landscape at locations with access to the sea provides evidence for travel and subsistence considerations [3]. Maritime connections have also been established through the presence of imported objects such as obsidian from Lipari and Pantelleria and red ochre, flint, and miniature axes traced to Calabria and Mount Etna, Sicily [1,2]. Later periods of Maltese history, such as the Phoenician, Punic, and Roman periods, are well-documented both on land and underwater, a prime example being the Punic Temple located at the tip of the Ras il-Wardija promontory and the Phoenician shipwreck located off the same promontory at a depth of 110 metres [4].…”