Għar Dalam, Prehistoric cave and archaeological museum in Birżebbuġa, Malta.
Għar Dalam is a limestone cave extending about 144 meters into the earth, filled with layered sediments from different geological periods. Attached to the entrance, a museum displays fossils, animal bones, and artifacts that show what lived here over thousands of generations.
The cave was excavated in the 1800s and revealed distinct layers holding remains of animals and humans from different time periods. The deepest materials show that land animals lived here hundreds of thousands of years ago, ages before any humans arrived on the island.
The name comes from Arabic, reflecting Malta's linguistic heritage from centuries of different rulers. The exhibits show how animals and people shaped each other's presence on this island over vast stretches of time.
You can walk into the first 50 meters of the cave to see the layered deposits and fossils up close. The path is fairly level and well lit, making for a straightforward visit without steep climbs or obstacles.
The cave holds bones from dwarf elephants and dwarf hippopotamuses that evolved smaller sizes on this isolated island. These extinct species show how animals change shape and size differently when separated from mainland populations.
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