Tombs and silos in Ta' Qali

Archaeologists have discovered a series of tombs and silos dating back to the Bronze Age and Early Roman period under the proposed US Embassy site in Ta' Qali, from India's New Kerala:

Four tombs and 17 silos have been found, but experts believe there could be more buried underneath. A team of nine archaeologists and students have been working at the site since August in a bid to survey the area as thoroughly as possible because a number of the structures - which are in very bad shape - may now be buried again under the new pentagon-shaped compound that will house the new embassy...The US Embassy is however, unsure what step of action it should take.

The Embassy believes the finds will remain exposed and be incorporated in the landscaping, as the building will take only a small portion of the land. The Embassy's general services officer, Joseph Runyon, said, there are plans to exhibit small artefacts that have been recovered from the site. According to a Times of Malta report, though artefacts dating back to the Bronze Age have been recovered, there is evidence that the site was populated during the early Roman period (AD 1 to 3). The paper further said the tombs in particular suffered extensive damage over the years.

Besides having been quarried in the 1800s, the site was levelled off and developed, to be used eventually as the counting hall during general elections. Little more than a few inches are left of the once storey-high tombs, for instance, the report said.