A magnificent island for many an odyssey

On Malta, discover ancient salt pans and the stuff of legends

July 26, 2009|Meg Pier, Globe Correspondent

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George Azzopardi of Heritage Malta says Gozo’s caves have been a boon to archeologists. The cave at Ghajn Abdul in the western part of the island yielded the earliest evidence of human presence in Gozo: pottery shards dating to 5000 BC. Other nearby caves also show evidence of human occupation and some are said to have been inhabited as late as the 1950s.

The shelter of caves may have been a deciding factor in the location of one of Gozo’s most significant claims to fame, the Ggantija temples, believed by many to be the world’s oldest freestanding structures. The temples, which are set on a hill overlooking verdant Ramla Valley, date to 3600 BC, nearly a millennium before the pyramids.

“It was fundamental for the prehistoric community here to build their temples in areas abundant in caves, which could be easily turned into dwelling places,’’ said Azzopardi. “In fact, the village of Xaghra, where the Ggantija Temples are found, contains perhaps the largest concentration of natural caves on the island of Gozo.’’

While archeologists can comfortably deduce why the site was chosen, explanations of how the temples were erected have proven less facile. Ggantija’s name is inspired by long-held local legend that only giants could have moved the megalithic boulders with which they are built. No consensus any more definitive has been reached.

Like Ggantija’s genesis, or why illness sometimes strikes those we love, some mysteries are just impossible to solve.

Meg Pier can be reached at nahantmeg@gmail.com.

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