There is a cave near Birżebbuġa with the bones of elephants in it. Also hippopotamus, deer, bear and wolf. None of those animals belong on a small Mediterranean island, and working out how they got there is most of what makes the place interesting.
What the cave is
Għar Dalam is a tunnel cut through the rock by water over a very long time. The name means cave of darkness.
The floor built up in layers and each layer holds a different set of remains. Digging down through it reads like a sequence rather than a pile.
How elephants reached Malta
Sea levels were far lower during the ice ages, and Malta was joined to Sicily, or close enough that animals could cross. They walked here. When the sea rose again they were stuck.
Trapped on a small island with limited food and no large predators, big animals get smaller over generations. The elephants at Għar Dalam ended up around a metre tall.
The hippos shrank as well. Biologists call it island dwarfism and Malta is one of the standard examples of it.
What you see
There is a small museum at the entrance with the bones laid out, including a case packed with teeth and jawbones. Then you walk down a path into the cave itself, which is lit and takes a few minutes.
It is not a large site and it does not take long. An hour covers it comfortably.
Where it is
On the edge of Birżebbuġa in the south east, near Pretty Bay. It is on the bus network. It sits close enough to the Blue Grotto and the southern temples to combine with them in a day.
Prices for it and every other site are on one page. There is more on the prehistoric sites too.
Opening hours and tickets are on the Heritage Malta page for Għar Dalam.
