Were Malta’s Caves Home To Neanderthals?

Описание: Although most evidence points to the Maltese islands having been inhabited by humans since the Early Neolithic, there are those who think it may have been visited much earlier. In this video I explore the possibility of a Neanderthal presence on Malta by looking into the story of the taurodont molars. This is a long but fascinating story that begins with the 19th century discovery of Ice Age fossilised animal remains in the Għar Dalam cave. Different layers of deposits ended up in the cave over 180,000 years and included hippopotami and elephants, providing insights into about the islands before they were inhabited by humans. Excavations of the upper layer also revealed human bones and pottery which were dated to the Neolithic. However, taurodont molars were also found in the cave and since they are normally only found in Neanderthals, an argument into their origin has persisted ever since.

I also touch on the supposed Palaeolithic cave art that's been reported in several places including the cave known as Għar Ħasan even though there doesn't appear to be any trace of it anymore. Other close Mediterranean islands such as Sicily and Sardinia do have several Palaeolithic sites but the overall consensus is that Malta was inhabited for the first time much later. What do you think of the evidence? Let me know in the comments below.

#ancienthistory #fossils #Malta #Neanderthals #prehistory

✨ IN THIS EPISODE

00:00 Introduction
00:16 Standard Chronology
01:38 The Excavations of Għar Dalam
03:22 Neanderthal Man in Malta
06:12 The Debate
07:50 Palaeolithic Rock Art

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✨ REFERENCES

Bonanno, A. (1985). Archaeology in Malta: before man. Civilization, 25, pp. 688-689.

Bonanno, A. (2008). Insularity and isolation: Malta and Sicily in prehistory. In A. Bonanno, & P. Militello (Eds.), Malta in the Hybleans, the Hybleans in Malta (pp. 27-37). Palermo: Officina di Studi Medievali.

Keith, A. (1924). Neanderthal Man in Malta. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 54, pp. 251-26.

Malone, C., Grima, R., McLaughlin, R., Parkinson, E.W., Stoddart, S. and Vella, N.C., 2020. Temple places: excavating cultural sustainability in prehistoric Malta. McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

Mangion, J.J. (1962). Two cases of taurodontism in modern human jaws. British Dental Journal, 13 (9), pp. 309-312.

Mifsud, A., (2016). Dossier Malta - Neanderthal. MQuills Publishing.

Parkinson, E.W., McLaughlin, T.R., Esposito, C., Stoddart, S. and Malone, C., 2021. Radiocarbon dated trends and central Mediterranean prehistory. Journal of World Prehistory, 34(3), pp.317-379.

✨ MUSIC CREDIT

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✨ PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS

CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Figure 2 from Parkinson, E.W., in paper referenced above
Taurodontism, credit: Leveni

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Dating from the FRAGSUS Project, credit: Created by MegalithHunter with data taken from Malone, C., (2020) as referenced above

All other photographs, credit: MegalithHunter