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Malta Is Already Old AF, But The Country Just Got 700 Years Older

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It is widely believed that settlers first came to Malta in 5200 BC – well, was widely believed.

A group of researchers from Queen’s University Belfast have discovered people might have come to Malta a whole lot earlier – like, 700 years earlier. 

“I have been working on the prehistory of Malta for over 30 years and the amount of detail we have extracted from these ancient skeletons is remarkable. They change the entire understanding of the first Maltese people,” said Professor Caroline Malone, one of the lead researchers.

“Through radiocarbon dating we have now been able to pinpoint that the first inhabitants arrived 700 years earlier than was previous thought, and we have also identified several episodes of separate colonisation. Given the restricted land space of Malta, it is remarkable that the second colonisation survived for 1,500 years,” she said.

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Professor Caroline Malone and her team have been working in a burial site in Ġgantija, Gozo, since 1987. By analysing ancient soils, they discovered that the first settlers to Malta had arrived around 5900 BC. 

Their findings suggest that the first settlers in Malta came from parts of Europe and Africa in the Mediterranean region. A second group of settlers arrived in 3850BC and survived in Malta for 1,500 years.

The team have excavated more than 220,000 bones in their research. These bones are from about 500 to 800 people who lived between 3600 – 2350BC.

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Their findings paint a pictures of Malta at its very earliest. 

The settlers would care for each other, as well as the sick and elderly, and worked on strenuous daily tasks, even though they were probably in chronic pain due to advanced bone degradation. 

They ate mainly meats, pulses and cereals, but ate less meat as time went on. They consumed very little fish.

Nevertheless, the earliest settlers were robust and determined, and advanced in certain areas. One excavated skull even showed evidence of complicated dental work at the root of a tooth carried out in 2500 BC.

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READ NEXT: Did You Know An Epic Jewish Mystic Lived On Comino In The 13th Century?

Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]

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