The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1911-07-13


Of western pachisi-board. cover tAs
mouths of the old gransries. that are
bot round chambers cut In the solid
rock, With walls made smooth By NE
OF many years. At CittA veccAia, TIE
former capital Of the island. old cata-
conbs-probably dug out BY the Chris
tians for assembla&e during the ages
Of persecution-underm . large
area with their extensive ramibca-
tions.
The remarkable "Hypogaeum" was
discovered a few years ago At Paula.
q village about two-and-a-half miles
from the Porta Reale Of valetta. Up
to that time the known remains Of
such underground workings In Malta
a. belonged to a remote antiquity only
included some of the numerous exca-
waited grottoes or artificial caves such
a. that near the Church OF st. Loren
10. about two-and- a 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 Borien-Nadur. Professor
Zammit. the indefatigable curator Of
the Valetta Museum. has for the past
year or two been spending the great
or part OF his leisure in the excava.
ton and study of the Hypogaeum: and
on a recent visit he took me over the
mysterious series Of little rock-cut
halls. which are in three stages or
stories. one above another.
He also showed me some chambers
which had not yet been cleared out.
in which the floor was covered by &C
cumulated debris to 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 H.
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 rep
resentative OF the British School at
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 than 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 bro
ken surface at the neck, there are
worked depression and small holes.
probably serving to fasten in 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
strikingly 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
= 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
one OF the chambers there remain