Chapter 11 Caves in Context: The Late Medieval Maltese Scenario Keith Buhagiar Areas of the Maltese countryside containing a britt le limestone deposit known locally as Mtarfa Member contain numerous cave-sett lements of unknown antiquity. Even though remaining in use until the early modern period, and some until the fi rst few decades of the twentieth century, the available archaeological and landscape evidence hints at a twelft h century date, and might indeed be related to a period of agricultural expansion experienced by Maltese rural areas during this period. The various late medieval Maltese cave typologies, the rock-cut churches – several of which were situated within the precincts of palaeochristian hypogea, and the hydraulic strategies employed by the cave occupants in order to retrieve a perennial water source from the occupied landscape are all discussed. This study forms part of a broader research project, aimed at investigating Maltese late medieval sett lement location and any related water management systems. Landscape and sett lement analysis is based on available archaeological, archival and historical evidence, together with extensive personal non-invasive fi eld research conducted in various parts of the archipelago. Introduction The geological and climatic context The roots of Maltese late medieval troglodytism The Maltese archipelago lies in the central probably lie in the twelft h and thirteenth centuries Mediterranean Sea south of Sicily. Its largest islands and possibly refl ect coordinated att empts at increasing (listed in descending order according to size) are the agricultural output of specifically designated Malta, Gozo and Comino. Central to this paper’s countryside areas of Malta. It was formerly observed discussion is the island of Malta, which occupies a that the north-west sector of Malta is ‘strangely bare’ total land surface area of 153km2, and has a maximum of late medieval aboveground village-type sett lements length and width of 27.4km and 14.5km respectively known locally as raħal (Wett inger 1975, 190). Blame (Fig. 11.1). Geological deposits are almost exclusively was tentatively placed on a defect in the surviving sedimentary in formation, and started to form in a documentation, or the fact that the countryside in this marine environment between 30 and 6 million years part of Malta had been depopulated for such a long before present. The archipelago owes its origin to period of time, that the surviving place names dropped prolonged stress between the European and African their raħal prefi x (Wett inger 1975, 190). continents, where plate tectonic activity completely Following the identifi cation of numerous man- reshaped the central Mediterranean basin into a series excavated cave-sett lement sites and water galleries of horst and graben formations. Tectonic activity tapping the perched aquifer in the north and west of also uplift ed several portions of the Sicilian-Tunisian Malta, this study proposes the hypothesis that it was the Platform on which Malta lies, a few hundred metres għar (cave) sett lements which prevailed in this region above sea level (Zammit-Maempel 1977, 18; Pedley et and not the raħal ones. The geographical parameters for al. 2002, 1, 18–29). the fi eld investigation were determined by the natural Four distinct rock layers constitute the basic geology distribution of Upper Coralline Limestone deposits. (Fig. 11.2), and when undisturbed by land faulting, the 154 Keith Buhagiar Figure 11.1: Map of the Maltese archipelago showing toponym spatial distribution. horizontal stratifi cation from bott om to top reads as In the absence of the required technical expertise follows: (1) Lower Coralline Limestone; (2) Globigerina to extract water from the mean-sea-level aquifer, the Limestone; (3) Blue Clay; and (4) Upper Coralline perched water table was the only reliable water source Limestone (Pedley et al. 2002, 35). Exposed Lower available in the archipelago until the mid nineteenth Coralline and Globigerina Limestone deposits mainly century. cover areas of central and southern Malta. Late Upper Coralline Limestone is the youngest rock medieval cave-sett lement location was nonetheless formation, four subdivisions of which have been mainly determined by Upper Coralline Limestone and identifi ed. The most important of these is Mtarfa Blue Clay distribution. Member, which is composed of massive to thickly From a technical perspective, Blue Clay is the most bedded carbonate mudstones and wackstones. The important rock horizon, and it is due to its presence thickness of this stratum varies from 12 to 16m and, that an easily accessible water table, locally referred in contrast to other Upper Coralline Strata with their to as the perched aquifer, exists. Water stored above this characteristically hard deposits, Mtarfa Member impermeable rock deposit has, since antiquity, been deposits can be cut and quarried with relative ease. It is recognized as a vital and easily accessible resource. within this rock deposit that almost all cave sett lements 11. Caves in Context: The Late Medieval Maltese Scenario 155 in north and north-west Malta are located (Buhagiar, The historical context K. 2007, 110–112). The adaptation of caves into houses and cultic shrines Malta’s climate is typically Mediterranean and is represents an ancient Mediterranean practice. Places characterised by hot dry summers and warm wet such as Granada in Spain, Matera in Basilicata (Italy), winters (Bowen-Jones et al. 1961, 48–49). The annual Matmata in Tunisia and Cava d’Ispica in Sicily amongst temperature range is of approximately 15°C and others, show that, ‘Mediterranean people have always an average precipitation of 560mm makes rainfall chosen caves and grott oes, natural and excavated, insuffi cient and erratic and creates regular drought as providing convenient, cool and oft en defensible conditions (Skinner et al. 1997, 188). The Maltese dwellings, stores, stalls, cisterns, churches, burial landscape is, furthermore, characterised by the almost places and catacombs’ (Lutt rell 1979, 461). complete absence of woodland vegetation and scarce Strabo (XVI, 7, 25–260), amongst other ancient soil deposits leaving the bare rock exposed. The authors, noted the habit of some African people of prevailing environmental conditions and the local using caves as houses. When the Mediterranean geology and topography provided an ideal springboard coast of Africa was colonized by the Romans, they for the widespread diff usion of troglodytism. too adapted themselves to the scarcity of timber and Figure 11.2: Geological map of Malta (aft er Bowen-Jones 1961, 24). 156 Keith Buhagiar the availability of easily quarried rock, and there are natural rock shelters and an abundance of easily examples at Cyrenaica, Bulla Regis and elsewhere quarried stone, were instrumental in conditioning a of villas and other structures that are wholly or type of architecture which was entirely stone oriented partially rock-cut (Buhagiar, M. 1984, 17). Malta was besides encouraging cave-dwelling. no exception, and the local archaeological record gives testimony to the widespread use of caves for dwelling, burial and cultic purposes since prehistoric times (Fig. 11.1). Worth mention are the human The cave-dwelling phenomenon during the remains unearthed at Għar Dalam dating to around late medieval period 5000 BC. Archaeological material dating to the Għar The roots of Maltese late medieval troglodytism Dalam phase has also been discovered in the caves at probably lie in the twelft h and thirteenth centuries, and il-Mixta, close to Għajn Abdul in Gozo. The Safl ieni are the result of new att itudes adopted following the and the Xagħra Circle prehistoric burial complexes, Norman reconquest of 1127 (Buhagiar, M. 2005, 40). A besides being multi-period burial places, also had strong troglodytic tradition during this period might a cultic signifi cance (Trump 2000, 90–2, 169, 184, possibly refl ect coordinated att empts at increasing 67–74, 177–8). The discovery of substantial amounts the agricultural output of specifically designated of Borġ in-Nadur type pott ery in Għar Mirdum, in the countryside areas of Malta. territory of of Dingli, points to the occupation of the A reconstruction of the Maltese landscape in late cave by a Borġ in-Nadur type, Bronze Age community antiquity and the medieval period at large is still a (Mallia 1965, 9; see also htt p://www.shurdington.org/ work in progress, but the available archaeological gharmirdum/index.html). and historical documentation hints at a clear-cut Excavations by the Italian, Missione Archeologica break between the Byzantine period, which ended in Italiana a Malta (the Italian Archaeological Mission 870 AD, and the Norman occupation of Malta, which at Malta), at Ras il-Wardij a in Gozo in the late 1960s commenced in 1091 AD. The defi nite Muslim conquest revealed the extensive use of a rock-hewn cave during of 870 was marked by bloodshed and destruction, the Punico-Hellenistic era (Buhagiar M. 1988, 69–87). probable retaliations against the Christian inhabitants Fragments of late-Roman coarse pott ery and medieval and an orchestrated demographic shift ing programme glazed ware at l-Għar ta’ Iburdan in the territory of which included the death or exile of the local bishop Rabat (Malta), denote the cave’s probable use for with the island being reduced to an uninhabited habitation purposes in late Roman and Byzantine times ruin (Brown 1975, 81–84; Lutt rell 1975, 21–28; 1992, (Hägglund 1976–7, 397; Buhagiar, M. 1988,