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Fascinating! On my one and only trip to Malta I was interested in caves and more specifically tunnels. Particularly those tunnels in which the population of Malta weathered the battle of Malta. My perception then was that every cave and hole had been chiseled upon to make more room in which to hide from the merciless bombing. Short sighted of me, in hindsight. That said, now my interest has strayed back considerably. Caves, especially deep caves, are wonderful time capsules. I find your review of this paper clear and logical. I do understand the confusion of different dating techniques. And the subtle dental details of the tooth are one of many ways that various species of homo are differentiated. Sometimes the august scientists get too close to the trees and can’t see the forest. Thus caves. Caves are wonderful places. People like them. Certain bears like them. Bats of course. But if the cave is of any depth, grazing animals which form the majority of man’s food supply do not. Thus it has been accepted as a generality for years that if you find both quantity and variety of herbivore bones in concert with a few hominid bones it signals the abode of some form of homo at play. Then it only remains to be seen which hominid and at what date. Such is the topic of your paper. Clearly “they” were there. The who and when can be debated, but not the fact that they were there. As to how. We see the world through our own blinders today. We largely forget that sea level has been up and down as much as 400 feet in most places. More when geological forces are considered. But Malta sits in deep water. It probably has not been connected to adjacent land until long before any hominid roamed. But that’s ok! Several academics have suggested that H. erectus was a capable seaman. Based upon circumstantial evidence, summarised by Madsen in 2012, erectus is found in too many places inaccessible except by boat. Only stone and bone survive as artefacts from that age. So no boat has been found per se. Stone boats, like cement bicycles, are not practice. But erectus had motive and opportunity, enough to convict in a court of law many times. And erectus is generally considered to be the progenitor of Neanderthal, sapians, etc. Building a boat suggests language. Language suggests that skills are passed between generations, even species. So. It’s not been proven that Neanderthal was a sea farer. But it would explain the wide dispersion and seeming rapid and repeated migrations of several homo species about the Palaeolithic world. Particularly the presence of homo “Luzonii” ( or whatever they decide to call the denisovan-like homo found on the Philippine islands in 2015). It’s a long long swim from Taiwan to Luzon in shark infested waters. But a pleasant week at sea on a good raft with the wind at your back. Even less of a voyage to Malta from points east. The ash layer is confusing. Volcanic ash is quite common and can usually be tied to some volcano and thus dated, more or less. The exception is in caves. Most caves, the good ones that people choose to live in are by nature not exposed. Thus they are snug and warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Stuff that accumulates is usually drug into the cave by somebody or something. That’s why they are handy for archeology. A 6 inch layer of ash is then a puzzle. Usually whatever rains down outside the cave, ash, pollen, snow, whatever does not accumulate in any quantity inside the cave. Thus there must have been a huge pile of ash outside the cave to get 6 inches drifted into the cave. That or one hell of a wind storm. The devil is in the details as H Ross Perot opined. Good review of the paper. Let’s see what other comments you get. Fox out.

Very interesting. Most of the evidence seems to support later human habitation. It would be wonderful to see what is was like during that Paleolithic wetter climate. Thanks for bringing us these videos!

Before watching you videos, I was only very slightly aware of Malta. Thank you for sharing some of its interesting history.

Thank you so much, my friend ❤️💐🕊️

I came to know about Mysterious Malta 6 years ago. I am still mystified

Imagine the prehistoric wonders buried or lost on that island...🤯

The book "Before the Flood", by Ian Wilson, covers early Mediterranean history. The title is a reference to the work of William Ryan and Walter Pitman, who discovered that the Black Sea became a sea about 5,600 BC. Now I have to read it again and see what it says about Malta .

It is said Neanderthals were also on Gibraltar. Wouldn't it be interesting to find out if the Neanderthals had boats and maritime skills? We know the Vikings were legendary seafarer and if I am not mistaken a "Nordic skull" has the same shape than an Neanderthal skull, at least when it comes to the characteristic back of the head. I personally am suspicious the Vikings were so strong and wild because they were late offsprings of Neanderthals. Excuse me for my candour.

Based on the idea that the Maltese Islands were actually NOT islands in 10,000 BC and even earlier, could it be that the Neanderthals made their homes like sensible humans in the now flooded flatlands of the Southern Mediterranean Sea AROUND Malta? This is where the hunting was better, and perhaps they did not typically like to homestead in what would have been limestone mountains to pursue their living. So Paleolithic remains are now under the sea. In fact in France for instance there are previously inhabited painted Paleolithic caves now underwater.

Good Info and this might not be of as much significance to your presentation but what theories for the ash layer

What kind of volcano would have an eruption big enough to cover Malta in 6 cm of ash?

Very interesting video. Why would they think that no one crossed the land bridge to Malta? That makes no sense to me - perhaps there was a reason not to stay, but to suggest that hunter-gatherers would not have explored every nook and cranny of their surroundings makes no sense at all. I have heard of a story where there was art on the wall of a hypogeum (I think) that conflicted with the date that the local archeologist/historian agreed with, and supposedly he had it scrubbed off - so there would be no conflict with the standard dating. I suspect however that if this was the case, and limestone being a porous rock, modern multi-spectral imaging techniques such as those used in examining historic artworks for hidden images, would be able to detect traces of the rock art if it did exist because particles would still be present in the pores of the rock. Also, Crete has evidence of human habitation that could only have come from Neanderthals, and Crete was never connected to the mainland - so they had to have come by sea long before Homo sapiens reached Europe. No land bridge needed; whether they were deliberately aiming for the island or just got blown off course, they still got there. Is Malta visible from the mainland at all?

The controversial Superior Homo Sapiens. That should be their denomination. The caves and stone ruins are not related with them, except that they did utilized as temporary shelter. They were survivors/descendants from the grand planetary catastrophe.

Great report. Didn't some Catholic priests remove paintings in some Temples?

Why haven't the teeth been carbon dated?!?

Ancient timeline is all messed up