The black sheep usually doesn't follow the crowd because every once in a while, the crowd is literally going the wrong way in mass

A small tooth is 2,000-year-old baby discovered in an ancient burial site beneath a Rabat school

A small tooth is almost all that remains of a 2,000-year-old baby discovered in an ancient burial site beneath a Rabat school.

Some of the human remains unearthed beneath the St Paul’s Missionary College in Rabat

The series of catacombs, discovered during works to extend the playing fields of the St Paul’s Missionary College, also revealed the remains of “at least eight” ancient island dwellers, decorative pottery – and new clues to unlocking the secrets of Malta’s past.

The Superintendence of Cultural heritage has been excavating the tombs for the past few weeks, and an archaeologist and osteology have even found intact skeletons of adults and children from the Roman period, along with a large amount of intact pottery vessels and other delicate objects that were placed with the dead at the time of their burial.

 

Some of the human remains unearthed beneath the St Paul’s Missionary College in Rabat [Credit: The Times of Malta]

 

Some of the human remains unearthed beneath the St Paul’s Missionary College in Rabat [Credit: The Times of Malta]

 

“The area around Rabat is rich with remains. These tombs are the latest discovery we have made, with some interesting contents,” Anthony Pace, the Superintendent of Cultural heritage, told The Sunday Times of Malta.

“Oh yes, this is just the beginning of the process. Discovering a site is definitely a thrilling experience, but so too is analysing skulls in the labs, for instance,” Dr Pace said. Turning to his colleague, he said: “Some of the skeletons are beautiful, there’s no other word for them.” After a pause he added: “We’re not crazy, we’re archaeologist”.

Walking into the Rabat school’s grounds, children yesterday played football on a newly surfaced pitch, the schoolhouse looming large behind them. Leading the way to excavation works being done to extend the grounds, Dr Pace points past some mesh-wire and plastic piping along a gravel walkway.

 

Some of the human remains unearthed beneath the St Paul’s Missionary College in Rabat [Credit: The Times of Malta]

“First we discovered this chamber and then we found more and more,” he said, as the newly unearthed depths of the playing field’s boundary wall revealed hand-chiselled crypts.

Inside what looks like a small shelf carved out of the stone, about the size of an encyclopaedia, was one of several burial sites used for infants.

“2,000 years ago, child mortality rates were high. They would lay them to rest in these miniature tombs, plaster it shut and then open it and use the site for a fresh burial as soon as they could. This would often be done over and over,” said Bernardette Mercieca Spiteri, an anthropologist studying the remains. 

 

Some of the decorative pottery found in Rabat

So, who were these ancient people? Dr Pace shied away from calling them Maltese.

“‘Malteseness’ as we know it today is a relatively new invention. Malta would have been home to moving people from the Mediterranean, it would have also had settlers, and they would have considered themselves part of the empire, in this case, the Roman Empire,” he said.