The Times of Malta and MaltaToday are reporting that two 5,000 year-old tombs have been uncovered in Karem. The tombs were found beneath a house reserved for the Parish priest. Work was being done to expand it when the rock cut burial spaces were found.
There are a number of interesting features about this find. One tidbit is that it's possible that these tombs had previously been uncovered and subsequently ignored. MaltaToday writes:
They may have been first encountered during the construction of the Kercem parish church, between 1846–51, which involved extensive quarrying. However the tombs did not draw any further attention and went unnoticed for another 163 years and the present development.
The TimesOfMalta says of the contents:
Pottery recovered so far place the origins of tombs in the Tarxien phase of Maltese prehistory, currently dated to about 3000-2500 BC.
And that ...[T]he small annex served both as an ossuary and a place for primary burials. Primary burials were placed on stone floors, each carefully sealing older inhumations. The sides of the small chamber served as an ossuary: some older burials were pushed to the side to make way for new ones. Some individuals were buried in a crouched position, recalling the pose of the iconic ‘Sleeping Lady'.
The grave diggers used 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 means of hard pebbles. A small rock-cut column, marked the entrance to the small annex whose floor is lower than that of the main chamber.
Look to the links below for the only extant articles as of this date.
TimesOfMalta Link
MaltaToday Link
They may have been first encountered during the construction of the Kercem parish church, between 1846–51, which involved extensive quarrying. However the tombs did not draw any further attention and went unnoticed for another 163 years and the present development.
The TimesOfMalta says of the contents:
Pottery recovered so far place the origins of tombs in the Tarxien phase of Maltese prehistory, currently dated to about 3000-2500 BC.
And that ...[T]he small annex served both as an ossuary and a place for primary burials. Primary burials were placed on stone floors, each carefully sealing older inhumations. The sides of the small chamber served as an ossuary: some older burials were pushed to the side to make way for new ones. Some individuals were buried in a crouched position, recalling the pose of the iconic ‘Sleeping Lady'.
Votive offerings accompanied the dead, perhaps as gifts or as necessities for the after-life. Pottery fragments are abundant at the Kercem tombs: these belonged to fine ware vessels and coarse ware containers. Most of these date back to the Tarxien phase, and repeat many of the designs that are known from that period. A number of blades, made of local chert, were also discovered. Small flakes of Sicilian flint were also encountered. A small sea-shell brings a personal touch.
Knowing nothing about Malta's long history, I found the contents interesting enough, but was fascinated by how the burial sites were created.The grave diggers used 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 means of hard pebbles. A small rock-cut column, marked the entrance to the small annex whose floor is lower than that of the main chamber.
Look to the links below for the only extant articles as of this date.
TimesOfMalta Link
MaltaToday Link
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Should you have any problems posting a comment (it does happen) email it to pamt.reviews@gmail.com. Vale, O'Amice!