Posted on 07/09/2008 9:56:56 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
An archaeological discovery described as the most important in 18 years has been made at the site of the Tarxien temples.
Malta Environment Planning Authority (Mepa) officials discovered megaliths and other remains, which are most probably prehistoric, during development works within the buffer zone of the Neolithic temples.
...It lies within a plot of land measuring 25 by eight metres towards the back of the plot.
The megaliths and boulders were found together with pottery shards made up of rims, handles and bases in an area measuring roughly four by four metres. The shards have scratched and incised motifs which date them to the Temple Period.
...During the inspection it was noted that demolition and site clearance works had uncovered a number of features which date back to 4,100-2,500 B.C.
"The importance of the site is enhanced by the possibility that there are other structures beneath the intensive building works that were carried out in the 1980s in the Tarxien area," Mr Borda said.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesofmalta.com ...
Gibraltar Museum Team in Malta
by MaltaMedia News
Jul 6, 2008 - 6:07:38 PM
http://www.maltamedia.com/artman2/publish/travel/article_6982.shtml
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What is evident is that the seaside areas of Malta have changed drastically since the temple building period, and we can not gain a clear understanding of this period without seriously investigating these shallow areas. It is also where I would look for cart ruts, since these tie these areas together as a continuous land mass occupied by the same people. Clearly the deeper these ruts are found beneath the sea, the stronger the argument becomes that they date from a much earlier period than we might otherwise suppose. Also, wherever we find the ruts beneath the sea, we can also expect to find the human constructions they served. Also given that much of this land flooded relatively quickly, we may find the prehistoric structures in surprisingly good shape, protected by the sea, and out of man's reach since soon after they were built. But 30 sq km is a large area to search and prehistoric sites are not easily identified.
The Megalithic Temples of Malta.
Gozo Stone Circle - Rediscovered.
From 1828:. One of the water-colour pictures of great interest shows the excavation at the Stone Circle while in progress.
THE KEY TO ATLANTIS COULD BE A LOT OF BULL.
In addition to breeding Wenzu, who is 96% pure genetically, the Malta Cattle Foundation has extracted and preserved the DNA of the last pure (100%) Maltese ox so that it can be compared with that of similar animals found around the Mediterranean. It is hoped that comparative studies of the DNA of oxen in Malta/Gozo, Crete, Cyprus, Egypt and Sicily will yield valuable information on the origins and movements of early settlers and their livestock through the ancient Mediterranean.
Graham Hancock has a lot to say on the underwater prospects for exploration around Malta, as well as some of his experiences with Maltese authorities. He also points out that the magaliths must have been developed when Malta had a much larger land area to support the population.
Apparently when one of the undergound temples was opened, there were about 7,000 skeletons, almost all of which were destroyed by the government. What a terrible loss.
OXEN! The Minoans were OX LEAPING!
I seem to recall running into some interesting info about the geology of Malta. If I can find it I will post it. Meanwhile I have a question about the decendents of oxen. If I remember my biology, Oxen are castrated adult male cattle, and thus would have no decendents.
Nice photos!
Sacred Precincts:The moat, which is over 15 feet deep in places, was dug out of bedrock. We have found a great deal of local pottery in the moat. Surprisingly, we have also found skeletons of what at first appeared to be horses or donkeys. Later analysis showed that these were the bones of a now-extinct equid not known anywhere else in the world -- one smaller than a horse but taller than a donkey or a pony. Study of the bones revealed that the animals had not been used for hard labor or transportation. Stranger still, they were all beheaded and buried in the western moat -- the bones of their bodies at one end of the moat and their skulls at the other. We have found nearly 30 of these creatures. Were they sacred animals? Did worshipers mount them for ritual processions? Did they have some other cultic function? We are open to suggestions, and we hope that further excavations will help solve this mystery.
A Tartessian Sanctuary in Ancient Spain
by Sebastian Celestino
and Carolina Lopez-Ruiz
Apparently when one of the undergound temples was opened, there were about 7,000 skeletons, almost all of which were destroyed by the government.I wonder if there's a source for that info? Hancock isn't 100 per cent reliable (he said, with a hint of irony). Some years ago, on another forum, someone claimed that Mussolini's archaeologists found a Roman-Empire-era mass grave which somehow still had loads of flesh in it, and had to be hastily recovered because it all started to rot.
Unfortunately, the link does not come up. Is there any source of a whole body reconstruction of these animals?
http://www.allmalta.com/folklore/past01.html
According to an article in The TIMES of Malta (February 6, 1998,) the local breed of cattle were described in 1915 as being “very remarkable, though hardly known beyond the narrow limits of the islands. The cow, which is fully the same size as the bull, and as powerful, is usually of very gentle disposition, and is kept only for agricultural work, for which it is an ideal animal.” These oxen were believed to be descended from a sub species of the extinct bos longifrons...
Researchers at Stanford University: Dr. Roy King, MD, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences, and Dr. Peter Underhill, Ph.D., senior research scientist in the Department of Genetics, are comparing genetic patterns with archaeological findings to track the movements of people at the end of the long Stone Age and the beginning of civilization as we know it.
British archaeologist, Dr. David Trump points out that the assumption that Malta was geographically isolated during the Neolithic era may not in fact be true. It is possible that the “people of the temples” may be related to those who built Stonehenge, the ancestors of the Minoans of Crete, and the advanced society that inspired stories of Atlantis.
http://www.messybeast.com/genetics/hybrid-bovines.htm
Bos primigenius (aurochs) and Bos longifrons (Iron Age ox) both refer to the ancestors of domestic cattle, now considered to be the species Bos taurus. the term Bos primigenius is still used to indicate the wild species aurochs.
Maybe the origin of the thousands of skeletons story:
http://www.victorborg.com/html/stones_of_the_gods.html
‘...I visited Joe Attard, a Maltese self-taught historian, to find out how he made a series of archeological discoveries. “Inspiration?” he mused. “No. Hard work and an intuition developed by years of study.” In the 1970’s Attard became obsessed with an archeological treasure hunt for a suspected underground burial shrine. He slogged through the diaries and accounts of travelers in Malta in earlier centuries. He interrogated farmers. He analyzed folk tales and legends. He studied old landscape paintings. And he combed the countryside for traces of megaliths and pottery shreds. Five years later he stumbled on the Xaghra Stone Circle, an underground burial shrine that yielded thousands of skeletons and piece of art during excavations in the nineties’...’
See ‘Gozo Circle’ link and images in previous post.
Thanks.
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