Oldest graffiti of ships preserved

Heritage Malta has moved two 5,000-year-old megaliths from the Tarxien Temples in a bid to save what could possibly be the oldest representations of seafaring vessels ever found.

The initiative forms part of a conservation project funded by Bank of Valletta.

Heritage Malta said that other megaliths decorated with relief carvings depicting spirals, animals and other designs were moved to the National Museum of Archaeology in the 1950s.

The megaliths bearing ship graffiti were left on site because they appeared to be in a good state of preservation.

However, exposure to fluctuating temperatures, wind, rainfall and rising damp could lead to their rapid deterioration.

Extensive studies were carried out by the Scientific Committee for the Conservation of the Megalithic Temples, set up by the Ministry for Culture and Tourism in 2004.

Following these studies, the committee recommended that the megaliths be moved indoors.

The megaliths were first treated by Heritage Malta conservators so that no more material would be lost from their surfaces. An excavation close to the megaliths was also carried out by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage.

This excavation enabled a study of the megaliths' foundations to be carried out and contributed to the design of the method that was to be used for their transportation.

Heritage Malta conservators will now be able to carry out additional interventions on the megaliths to ensure their preservation.

The ship graffiti megaliths have been placed within the visitors' building at the Tarxien Temples where they can be viewed by visitors. The megaliths will eventually be displayed within the new Visitor Centre which will be built close to the site as part of the BOV Tarxien Temples Project.