Għar Dalam reopens to the public after extensive refurbishment and embellishment works

As the clock struck 10 on the morning of October 24, a tiny creature that only dwells in Għar Dalam – and that is, in fact, named Armadillidium ghardalamensis – heard the familiar sound of visi­tors’ voices echoing from the stairway leading down to the cave. Voices it hadn’t heard since last March, when Heritage Malta closed the Għar Dalam museum and site to carry out extensive works entrusted wholly to the minds and hands of its own employees.

With an investment of €250,000 from Heritage Malta funds, works included the refurbishment of the two main halls of the Għar Dalam museum, the presentation of items on display for the first time, the embellishment of the main entrance and the museum shop and a better interpretation service for both adults and children.

In the cave itself, the lighting system has been improved, while, throughout the rest of the site, all alien flora has been removed and replaced by indigenous species. The site now also includes an educational garden, by the name of Ġnien Dinja Waħda, where teachers may go with their students for interactive lessons in contact with nature.

Of bees and bats and bones... some of the exhibits at the Għar Dalam museum.

These works are part of a much larger project which, once implemented, will see the Għar Dalam site form part of a park comprising four valleys – Wied Dalam, Wied Żembaq, Wied Saptan and Wied Qotna – and leading up to the outskirts of Safi.

But where exactly lies the magic of this unique place, our oldest prehistoric site whose silence screams of our deepest roots? John J. Borg, Heritage Malta’s senior curator for natural history, reiterates that what distinguishes Għar Dalam from other prehistoric sites is the fact that it offers an uninterrupted sequence of stratigraphic layers dating back to the Ice Age and leading up to modern times.

The cave was formed by the constant flow of a river above it, some one million years ago. However, the oldest layer of remains found in the cave is much more ‘recent’, going back between 130,000 and 180,000 years.

What for most of Europe was an Ice Age, for Malta was an age of rain – a long period of torrential rains and floods which swept away animals and dug out valleys

The remains of animals that roamed the island during the Ice Age were found in this layer. One should point out, however, that what for most of Europe was an Ice Age, for Malta was an age of rain – a long period of torrential rains and floods that swept away animals and dug out valleys. Most of our valleys, including Wied Dalam, were, in fact, formed at this time.

The first glimpse that the visitor gets of the newly-refurbished museum.

A fall of 80 or 90 metres in sea level led to the exposure of the submarine banks between Sicily and Malta, forming ‘land bridges’ from one island to the other. Foreign fauna – elephants, hippopotamuses, deer, wolves, foxes and bears – escaped the rigorous climatic conditions in Europe, migrated southwards and, ultimately, reached Malta by means of these ‘bridges’, as evidenced by numerous bones found in Għar Dalam.

To ensure survival, these animals underwent progressive structural adaptations and size changes, such that some grew very large while others became dwarfs when compared to their ancestors. This explains why, for example, the size of the elephants whose bones were found in Għar Dalam ranges from a shoulder height of 90cm to 120cm and 250cm.

Thousands of years after the animals arrived – some 7,500 years ago – the first humans set foot on these islands, crossing from Sicily on rafts. It is likely that they first settled in Għar Ilma, Gozo (as indicated by remains found there, which bear great simi­larity to those of Għar Dalam) but then spread to other areas, including Għar Dalam. There is no doubt that this cave, 140 metres deep, always served as a dwelling, both for animals and for those first ‘Maltese’, who toiled the land as farmers.

A part of the museum with information about small creatures associated with the cave.

As time went by, man moved from caves to huts and then on to houses but Għar Dalam unexpectedly found itself once again sheltering whole families during World War II. On June 11, 1940, following the first air raids targeting mainly the island’s southern coast, a throng of people from Ħal Far and Bengħajsa left their homes in fear and went to seek refuge in Għar Dalam, which, until shortly before the war, was still being excavated and which had been opened as a public attraction in 1933. They found the cave closed with a gate but they forced the watchman on duty to open it and then trooped down the stairway and proceeded to make the cave their abode.

They were later joined by people from other areas, so much so that from a census held a month later, it turns out that no fewer than 108 adults and 89 children were living in the cave. Their peace of mind was quite shortlived, however, as a notice published in The Malta Government Gazette in September 1940 stated that, after October 1, no one would be allowed in Għar Dalam without the permission of the military authorities.

You might be wondering how Għar Dalam’s hidden treasures first came to light. It was Arturo Issel, a naturalist from Genoa, who first excavated inside the cave in 1865. At that time, throughout Europe, there was a great thirst for information about Neanderthals and Issel came to Malta with a plan to excavate several caves and,  perhaps, quench some of that thirst. In Għar Dalam he found evidence of both human and animal remains, including a bone from a hippopotamus.

Others followed in his footsteps, among them John Henry Cooke, Napoleon Tagliaferro, Giuseppe Despott, Joseph Baldacchino and George Zammit Maempel, who was assisted by John J. Borg himself. All of them have made valuable contributions towards the wealth of information we have today about Għar Dalam.

A timeline of people who have made valuable contributions towards the wealth of information available about Għar Dalam.

Borg, however, harbours no doubt that there is still much to be discovered, aided by technology and by continuous research. He is also quick to point out that although in many people’s minds Għar Dalam is linked exclusively to palaeonto­logy and archaeology, this site also has great ecological importance. Suffice it to say that, nowadays, the cave is the natural habitat of two species of bats, a colony of sparrows, bees, spiders and other insects and, of course, the above-mentioned Armadillidium ghardalamensis.

This small endemic woodlouse is found nowhere else except in Għar Dalam. It lives in the dark inner sections of the cave and, as a consequence, it has no pigments, its body is transparent and it has no eyes. When threatened, instead of rolling up into a ball like most other woodlice, it flattens itself and clings to a flat surface, very much like a limpet.

Should you wish to find out more about this creature and all other creatures that have lived or still live in that cave in Birżebbuġa – including man – visit the Għar Dalam museum and site, currently open on Saturdays, Sundays and Tuesdays from 10am till 4.30pm.

Daniela Attard Bezzina is executive, communications at Heritage Malta.

Young visitors can sit here and watch a short animated film to better understand the story of Għar Dalam.