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The site is the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum in Paola, Malta (a small island in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Southern Italy) on a hill near the Grand Harbour. It was found in 1902 during house foundation work, and the upper level took damage before the site became public property and systematic excavation followed.

What it is: a three level subterranean complex carved into soft limestone, with chambers shaped to resemble the architecture of Malta’s above ground temple tradition, including carved “doorways” and “windows,” corbelled ceilings, and red ochre painted decoration. Its use spans several phases of Maltese prehistory, commonly placed around 4000 to 2500 BCE.

What was found: a very large quantity of human remains. UNESCO’s summary describes it as an underground cemetery that originally contained the remains of about 7,000 individuals. Heritage Malta also explains that “7,000” traces back to an early estimate by Temi Zammit based on a bone count method, rather than a complete, neatly recorded census of skulls. Alongside the remains, excavators recovered typical material for the period such as pottery and small objects, and the site preserves rare prehistoric wall and ceiling painting in Malta.

Inside the Ipogeo dei Volumni, the “statues” are mainly the sculptural cinerary urns set in the central rooms. Each urn functions like a small sarcophagus, with a carved lid showing the deceased reclining on a banquet couch, head propped on one arm, often holding a shallow cup. The standout piece is the travertine urn of Arnth Velimna Aules, built as a full couch with drapery and a life-sized lid figure in the classic reclining pose.

The most dramatic figures are the two winged demons, identified as Lasae in site descriptions, positioned on the base flanking a painted “door to Hades” motif. They act like guardians of a threshold, reinforcing the theme that the chamber is a controlled passage between worlds.

Protective imagery shows up elsewhere, too. A Medusa relief appears over the entrance, and Medusa heads appear again in the decorative program on urns and ceilings. Many urns preserve traces of old paint, so the space originally carried strong color and iconography.

The standard analysis describes the hypogeum as a long-used necropolis and ritual space, with commingled bone consistent with repeated burial, reorganization of remains, and later disturbance. The large amounts of skeletons are sometimes attributed to a ritual burial where the hypogeum was deliberately sealed.

An alternative theory suggests that a disaster trapped people inside unexpectedly, turning a space used for burial and ceremony into a lethal enclosure within hours or days.

A collapse at an entrance shaft, a roof fall in a choke corridor, ground subsidence after heavy rain, seismic shaking, or a surface fire that drove smoke into the chambers could all create a one way descent. Once airflow drops and exits block, survival time shrinks fast. People deeper inside move toward sound and light, crowding passages, then falling where movement ends. Later survivors, or later visitors, face an impossible scene and begin consolidation, piling, and clearing routes, which can produce the commingled pattern seen today.

What’s important here is its age and the statues and structures inside. Most sources place its earliest use around 4000 BCE, with major activity in the Saflieni phase (about 3300–3000 BCE) and use continuing until roughly 2500 BCE. That puts it at about 5,500 to 6,000 years old. It was built by an advanced culture with an advanced religion.

The question we should be asking is: What else is there now buried under the Mediterranean Sea? If a disaster could hide this place for thousands of years, and it was only revealed in construction, there could be far more buried beneath the ocean, hidden in places we wouldn’t think to look.

What are your thoughts? Have you heard of this place before? What stories do you think were buried here?

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