Could new research on Hal Saflieni’s strange skulls crack one of Malta’s oldest mysteries?
Hal Saflieni Hypogeum is a UNESCO World Heritage Site housing remains of prehistoric Malta. Being the oldest underground temple (and necropolis) around the world, this site holds secrets and stories like no other, just waiting to be explored. But its most mysterious element? The elongated skulls.
The elongated skulls
The strange skulls were found to have abnormalities and/or pathologies, including inexistent cranial knitting lines, abnormally developed temporal partitions, evidence of drilling at the back of the head which resulted in swelling and, possibly strangest of all: a lengthened skull.
Daniel Cilia via Heritage Malta
Various myths surrounded these skulls, including claims of concealment on authorities’ part to hide Malta’s ancestral origins, as well as the possibility of them belonging to aliens. #Freaky. After much research by local and foreign experts, it was confirmed that the cranium was indeed naturally long, but mystery still shrouds their existence.
Shedding light on one of Malta’s oldest mysteries
Satisfying our curiosity, Heritage Malta, in conjunction with the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage of Malta and Macquarie University Sydney, Australia, are kicking off an international interdisciplinary project to study the surviving skulls from this historical site. The project will carry out the first-ever interdisciplinary analyses of the remains of the only surviving individuals (less than 20 out of a prospective 7,000 people) excavated from the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum.
The project, entitled The Sentinels of Hal Saflieni, Malta: Science Facts versus Science Fiction, will be finally giving the deserved attention to these mysterious skulls and will set the record straight on their condition and origins. Combining tradition archaeological, historical and archival research with cutting-edge scientific analyses, the project will investigate all aspects of life of the people of Hal Saflieni, including health, disease, lifestyle, diet and ancestry profiles. Super cool!