The head of the University of Malta’s Department of Anatomy has confirmed to heritage authorities that the bones unearthed from a Mtarfa catacomb earlier this year belonged to human beings. In a brief report that has been sent to the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, Professor Alfred Cuschieri confirms that three bones excavated from the Mtarfa site where the Housing Authority is building new apartment blocks are human remains. Handed over to this newspaper upon their discovery last May, MaltaToday had passed on the bones to the superintendence for further inspections as construction works on site were ongoing. But the heritage watchdog has not yet concluded its investigations and promises to make further investigations on site have not been kept yet. According to Prof. Cuschieri, one of the bones was a thoracic vertebra of an adult; another one was a radius that belonged to an adolescent and a third bone unearthed was a tibia of a child. “The three bones were from individuals of different ages,” Prof. Cuschieri noted. In his preliminary report, he said his observations were based on an inspection of the bones and that a more detailed report could be made upon to discover the measurements and predict the ages of the individuals to whom they belonged. Last May, Acting Cultural Heritage Superintendent Nathaniel Cutajar had engaged experts to investigate the remains after two independent doctors had confirmed they must have belonged to human beings. Now, Prof. Cuschieri’s report, drawn independently, confirms the hypothesis that the site under construction was a burial ground. The area is known to be archaeologically rich and is still awaiting official research and excavations. The site where the bones have been unearthed is possibly part of a small catacomb which was later integrated into a wartime shelter. Already approved by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and covered by a MEPA permit that is under appeal, to the chagrin of concerned residents, the local council and heritage experts, the Housing Authority’s project has been redesigned to leave parts of the archaeological site untouched. Other parts however will be covered by the development and any potential excavations there will have to be sacrificed to new buildings. The housing authority drew back its building on one side by a few metres, but it will still build a platform with flats above it over the network of catacombs and World War II shelters where the human bones have been found. The development was suspended in 2005 after the discovery of underground structures, but the heritage superintendence stopped short of doing any archaeological excavations and only limited itself to “monitoring” the developer’s digging on site. The MEPA appeal is expected to be heard later this month.

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