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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 APRIL 2025 2 HISTORY Malta's prehistory re-written: Seven takeaways from the Latnija discovery A team of researchers from the University of Malta and the Max Planck Institute, led by archaeologist Eleonor Scerri made a ground- breaking discovery at Latnija Cave in Mellieħa. James Debono presents seven key takeaways from the discovery. 1. Humans migrated to Malta 1,000 years before previously thought Until now, the first known inhabitants of Malta were be- lieved to be Neolithic farmers who arrived around 7,500 years ago. They went on to build the megalithic temples for which the islands are famous. However, radiocarbon dates from charcoal and animal re- mains at Latnija Cave point to a much earlier, Mesolithic presence, dating back to about 8,500 years ago. This discovery pushes the timeline of human activity on the island into an era long considered too early for successful open-sea settle- ment. It also sheds light on human migration patterns in which successive waves of mi- grants brought with them dif- ferent cultural and technolog- ical innovations. 2. The first arrivals to Malta were impressive navigators The most astonishing impli- cation of the Latnija Cave evi- dence is the maritime achieve- ment it represents. The sea crossing from Sicily to Malta is not only long (100km) but also involves travelling beyond the visible horizon – an immense psychological and navigational leap for early seafarers. The study suggests that the spread of humans to Malta may have been "near the limits of regional Mesolithic adap- tation". For example, there is no evidence that Ibiza, which is around the same distance from mainland Spain as Malta is from Sicily, was colonised in the Mesolithic period. Experimental voyages on a replica of an Early Neolithic dug-out canoe from La Mar- motta (Italy) suggest that crossings of 50km at a speed of about 4km/h (just over 2 knots) would have necessitated all daylight hours and an addition- al eight hours of darkness. The study suggests that these foragers may have used stel- lar navigation, paddling under the night sky and orienting themselves by constellations. These insights suggest this was not just accidental drift, but deliberate and skilled nav- igation, possibly honed over generations of seafaring in the central Mediterranean. Re- searchers also raise the pos- sibility that these people had retained a memory of "a land to the south", harking back to the days before sea levels began to rise. 3. Malta had a rich eco-sys- tem which included deer and foxes The animal remains found at the site provide a window into the island's past biodiversity – and into the activities of its first visitors. The assemblage includes red deer, foxes, tor- toises, seals, and reptiles. Although red deer (Cervus elaphus) are known from Pleis- tocene contexts in Malta, it was not previously known with any certainty that they survived in- to the Holocene period. While this survival is likely, the pos- sibility that these animals were also translocated from Sicily is also possible. If they were not translocated, the findings raise an important question: Were humans responsible for the extinction of some of Malta's iconic endemic species? Seal bones offer especially rare evidence of the exploita- tion of marine mammals in the Mesolithic – a surprising in- sight into the islanders' adapta- tion to coastal life. Gnaw marks on bones indi- cate that foxes, whose remains have been found, were scaveng- ing on human refuse. 4. The diet was varied and included fish, birds, snails, seals and deer Also recovered were the re- mains of fish, birds, and mol- luscs, pointing to an oppor- tunistic and flexible diet. In addition to marine shells, ter- restrial snails were also found. These hunter-gatherers made use of a wide range of resourc- Photo by Eleanor Scerri Photo by Huw Groucutt Photo by Huw Groucutt