More digging needed to study Victoria Lines find

Further excavations need to be made on the road between Mosta and Zebbiegh to determine whether the Victoria Lines had been broken by earlier works or whether a part of the historical fortifications had been buried when the road was first laid decades ago.

A part of the Victoria Lines was unearthed last week during road works financed by the Italian Financial Protocol on the artery leading to Mgarr. The work was stopped pending a decision by the Malta Transport Authority (ADT), the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

A spokesman for the Roads and Urban Development Ministry said the parties involved, including the contractor, met yesterday and agreed that the part of the road where the lines had been unearthed would be excavated further so that remains of the fortifications which could be buried beneath the road would be unearthed.

It still had to be seen whether any remains found would be recorded and covered again.

Archaeologist Edward Calleja, the environmental monitor responsible to oversee the intervention and report to the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage, said that if any archaeological remains had been found by the first road builders these had not been recorded officially.

Mr Calleja said underground monitoring was needed before any other decision could be taken to ensure that any remains found would remain intact.

A part of the fortification wall found on the roadside - once also part of the unbroken wall crossing Malta from east to west - could be restored eventually.

The Victoria Lines were built by the British Forces between 1870 and 1899 as a series of fortifications cutting across the island. The lack of a defensive perimeter in view of more powerful enemy artillery fire was a big headache for the British forces in Malta during the reign of Queen Victoria. The British had planned fortifications to provide a defence line against an approaching inland invasion from the easily accessible shores to the north.

Several imposing forts were strategically sited along the lines. The natural fault, which is higher towards the south and lower to the northern part of the lines, made it possible to build the forts on the higher plane.

Last February, part of a network of late Roman catacombs located in an area known as Ta' Bistra, on the outskirts of Mosta, were rediscovered during works to upgrade the road system. The catacombs network - which served as a burial ground cut into a ridge in the landscape - is about 92 metres long and is estimated to be about 2,000 years old.