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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by S. L. Cassar 



THE CHAPEL OF BONES IN VALLETTA: MALTA 



Malta not only has ruins in which prehistoric man buried his thousands, as at Hal Saflieni, 

 where the remains of 33,000 persons were found, but also such chapels as this, where the 

 bones of the knights of the Middle Ages are preserved. 



rocco, at the southeast end of the island, 

 there are about sixty round, bottle-necked 

 pits or wells cut out of the foreshore rock. 

 A number of these are now under the sea. 

 Directly over the mouths of some of them 

 run two deep ruts, which lead into the sea 

 and reappear on the opposite shore about 

 a quarter of a mile away. 



STORAGE WELLS FOR OIL OR WATER 



The original purpose of these wells is 

 not known, but it has been suggested 

 they were intended for storing fresh 

 water, grain or oil and were built at the 

 edge of the water for convenience of 

 shipment, thus suggesting evidence of 

 foreign trade. 



Black tufa stone rubbers were im- 

 ported from Sicily and obsidian from 

 the Greek islands has also been found. 

 Similar pits, however, are found at the 

 top of the high cliffs near a prehistoric 

 village called Bahria. 



Near this site is a me?alithic ruin 



called Borg en Nadur, which recalls in 

 shape those curious Sardinian towers, the 

 nuraghi,* and the cart tracks appear to 

 lead from that place to another neolithic 

 erection on the opposite shore. 



Possibly the Phoenicians utilized the 

 Stone Age erections for their own sacri- 

 ficial purposes, as a votive pillar was 

 found in this neighborhood having an 

 inscription in two languages, recording 

 in Phoenician a vow to Melkarte, Lord 

 of Tyre, and one to Hercules Archigetas 

 in Greek. 



The prehistoric remains consist chiefly 

 of temples, villages, dolmens, menhirs, 

 storage places, and tombs. 



The best-known temples are Gigantia, 

 in Gozo, the small island four miles 

 northwest of Malta, and Hagar Kim. 

 Mnaidra, Corradino, and Tarxien, in 

 Malta (see also page 473). The last 



*See "Little-known Sardinia," by Helen 

 Dunstan Wright in the National Geographic 

 Magazine for August, 1916. 



