Researchers at the University of Portsmouth believe they have solved an ancient Mediterranean mystery.
The mystery of how 2ft deep tracks were cut into the rock of Malta has been a puzzle for years... continues...
Both these temples were closed on 5th November 2007 for conservation works. Heritage Malta's website says until approx May 2008; the signs at the temples themselves are "for the foreseeable future". The project, funded by the ERDF, is to erect shelters over the temples and construct a new visitors' centre... continues...
2nd to 11th November - This week-long event comprises three threads centred on the theme of understanding the consciousness of the people who built the megalithic temples::
* Conference: An international, inter-disciplinary conference on different ways of approaching the thinking and imagination of the Neolithic people who built the me... continues...
http://www.heritagemalta.org/
Heritage Malta's website. Lots of information plus that all important shop where you can book your place for a tour of the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum – BOOK EARLY!
http://www.atp.com.mt/
The excellent Maltese Public Transport Association website. Includes timetables and specific information on how to get to historic sites.
Heritage Malta
A wonderful site with details of tickets prices, opening time of monuments and museums and lots more.
if you are planning on visiting the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum (WHICH SHOULD BE TOP OF YOUR LIST!) you should think about booking before you travel to Malta. The booking details are here www.heritagemaltashop.com
Enquires for booking can be sent to
hypogeum@gov.mt
The MEPA (Malta Environment & Planning Authority) board confirmed the scheduling of a prehistoric site and turned down appeals to have the scheduling reconsidered.
In the area around Ħagra ta' Sansuna in Xagħra lie the remains of a prehistoric temple. A man who owns nearby land said that the buffer zone negatively affected the value of his land, while another compared the scheduling to expropriation, and cited antiquity scholars John Evans and David Trump who expressed doubts about the site.
But the Heritage Planning Unit representative pointed out that land value was not a consideration when sites were scheduled, and pointed out that Evans and Trump doubted what the site was, (i.e. whether it is the remains of a Neolithic temple or a Bronze Age menhir/dolmen), but not its archaeological value. It should also be pointed out that in the 1968 National Ordinance Survey Maps, the site is indicated as a Neolithic Monument.
HPU also said the objector is incorrect in stating that there are no associated finds. During the widening of Triq Ġnien Imrik in 1946, a stone mortar used for corn grinding together with a number of prehistoric sherds were discovered and hastily re-buried. The MEPA board subsequently unanimously voted to keep the scheduling as is.