Għar Dalam

Għar Dalam, the cave of darkness, is a water-worn tunnel in the limestone of southern Malta, and its importance lies in what was found stacked in layers on its floor. The lower deposits held enormous quantities of bone from animals that lived here when Malta was joined to Sicily and species had shrunk to island size: dwarf elephants no taller than a large dog, dwarf hippos, giant swans and dormice. Above them, in later layers, came domestic animals and pottery marking the arrival of the first farmers, which makes this the earliest evidence of human presence on the islands. A small museum by the entrance displays the bones in old-fashioned cases packed with skulls and tusks, and a short walk leads into the lit first section of the cave itself.

What you actually see

• The bone layers - the deposits that gave up dwarf elephant and hippo remains.
• The museum cases - Victorian-style displays crowded with skulls and tusks.
• The cave passage - the lit first section of the water-worn tunnel.
• The evidence of first settlers - the layer marking the arrival of farming people.

When to go

Year-round; the cave is cool and the museum indoors, which suits the summer heat. It closes on some public holidays. The visit is short, an hour or so, and pairs well with the Tarxien temples or the Blue Grotto on a day in the south.

Honest expectations

Only a short section of the cave is open, so this is not a cave visit in the spelunking sense. The museum displays are deliberately old-fashioned and some visitors find them dusty rather than charming. It is modest in scale and the significance is scientific rather than visual, so a little context beforehand helps a great deal.

Nearby

Marsaxlokk's fishing harbour and market are close; the Blue Grotto is along the southern coast.