The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1911-07-14

! the paved spaces ap.
pear Ike some kind
of western pachisi-board, cover the
mouths of the old granaries that are
but round chambers cut In the solid
rock, with walls made smooth by use
Of many years. AZ Citta Vecchia. the
former capital OF the island, old cata-
eombs-probably dug out by the Chris
tians for assemblage during the ages
of ecution-undermlne large
area with their extensive ramihca-
tlons
The remarkable "Hypogaeum" was
discovered a few years ago at Paula,
a village about twoand-a-half miles
from the Porta Reale OF V.letta. w
10 that time the known remains OF
such underground workings in Malta
as belonged 10 a remote antiquity only
included some of the numerous eXca.
waited grottoes or artificial caves such
as that near the Church of ST. Loren
20, about two-anda-quarter miles
northwest OF Hagiar-Kim, circular In
plan, with four columns of the natural
rock left standing when the cave was
made; and the many bell-shaped hol.
lows with circular openings near the
ruins OF Bori-en-Nadur. Professor
Zammit the indefatigable curator OF
the Valetta Museum, has for the past
year or two been spending the great
er part OF his leisure In the eXCaya.
ton and study Of the Hypogaeum: and
on a recent visit he took me over the
mysterious series Of little rock.cui
halls, which are in three stages or
stories, one above another.
lie also showed me some chambers
which had not yet been cleared out
in which the floor was covered by ac.
cumulated debris to a depth varying
from one to two feet. This was com
posed Of sand mingled with crumbling
pieces Of human bones and occasional
fragments Of pottery. The smaller
bones such as the carpals and meta
carpals, were frequently perfect, but
the larger ones were generally broken.
The teeth, as in the case Of those II.
lustrated, are quite unharmed by age,
as are also the patellae, the little tri-
angular bones Of the kneecaps, which
Professor Zammit's assistants careful
ly preserve and count as the readiest
means Of gauging the number of
bodies inferred. The fragments of
pottery were being examined by a rep
resentative of the British School az
Athens
Among the small examples of plastic
art which have been found in the
Hypogaeum are a reclining figure in
terracotta, and some mutilated small !
er figures, closely resembling the larg-
er statuettes Of Maltese limestone dis
covered at the base of an altar in the |
central part Of Hagiar-Kim.
There were seven Of these statuettes |
found close together one a standing |
figure larger chan the rest, with curl +,
GUS stripes and bands about the mid |
die Of the body two in long garments, |
and four seated figures, apparently |
nude. All the figures are headless, |
though in two cases, instead of a bro
ken surface at the neck, there are a |
worked depression and small holes,
probably serving to fasten in a head.
The workmanship is not very rude, al
though the eXtremities are generally
formless stumps, with toes and digits
only indicated in few cases. These
hands and feet are always curiously
small and attenuated, and contrast
in this respect with the ex
treme fatness Of the limbs and of the
other parts Of the body
Much work has been done to make
a practical approach to the Hypo-
gaeum; and to carry further excava-
tions towards the entrance, two of the
houses built on the ground above were
bought by the British government. In