During a visit to the newly protected Latnija Cave in Mellieħa, Opposition Leader Bernard Grech called for increased investment in the University of Malta’s Department of Archaeology.

He stressed the need for better research and laboratory facilities to support further study of discoveries that place Malta on the global scientific map.

Grech’s visit follows the recent confirmation that Malta’s earliest evidence of human presence—dating back 8,500 years—was found at this site, also known as Għar Tuta.

The discovery pushes back the timeline of human settlement in Malta by over a thousand years and suggests the first inhabitants were hunter-gatherers, not Neolithic farmers as previously believed.

Accompanied by shadow ministers Julie Zahra, Ryan Callus, and Claudette Buttigieg, as well as Mellieħa Mayor Gabriel Micallef, Grech met with Professors Eleonor Scerri and Nicholas Vella, who led the excavation since 2019.

The site is now closed to the public for further research.

Grech praised the researchers’ efforts, comparing the find to Sir Temi Zammit’s discovery of Malta’s Megalithic Temples.

He also highlighted how such findings show the long-term impact of climate change, reinforcing the importance of research and heritage in shaping national identity.