International experts are poised to begin cutting-edge tests on ancient teeth which could prove that Neanderthals once roamed the island, according to a Maltese archaeology buff who has long tried to prove the theory.
Anton Mifsud, a retired pediatrician, yesterday told the Times of Malta that he had been in touch with experts at the London Natural History Museum who were prepared to request testing on the teeth using the latest technology.
“They want to conduct what is known as Ancient DNA testing, which would prove, or disprove, once and for all, whether these teeth belonged to modern humans, or their much older and extinct cousins – the Neanderthals,” he said.
Heritage Malta, which is responsible for the teeth, yesterday said they had received no correspondence from the UK to examine the specimens but that they had been working in tandem with the London museum for several years on a joint project related to Għar Dalam, the site where the teeth were discovered in 1917.
The Sunday Times of Malta last week reported Dr Mifsud’s belief that Maltese prehistory may have been extended by 30,000 years.
The claim is not new. It was made in the 1920s by two British anthropologists, but four decades later the theory was disregarded by the scientific community.
“Anyone who wrote a history book after 1964 will say there were never any Neanderthals in Malta. According to them, the first people to come here were Sicilian farmers around 7,000 years ago,” Dr Mifsud said.
He believes features recently identified as being “exclusively Neanderthal” by international experts are present in at least one molar found during a dig at Għar Dalam in 1917.
With their distinctly receding forehead and prominent brows, Neanderthals are our closest extinct human relatives, dating back as far as 300,000 years ago.
In a recently published book, entitled Dossier Malta – Neanderthal, Dr Mifsud lays out his study of the crowns of the teeth using the same principles adopted in the field of geometric morphometrics – the quantitative analysis of shapes and sizes in nature.
By examining the grooves and edges of the molars, he discovered multiple features on their surfaces, including a particular cusp which formed a kind of dental fingerprint. According to experts, this is “undeniably” Neanderthal.