The Għar Dalam phase, from approximately 5000 to 4100 BCE,National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands
/ref> is the first of the eleven phases of

Maltese prehistory Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Malte ...

. It is named for

Għar Dalam Għar Dalam ("Cave of Dalam" (a fifteenth century family name), ) is a 144 metre long phreatic tube and cave, or cul-de-sac, located in the outskirts of Birżebbuġa, Malta. The cave contains the bone remains of animals that were stranded and s ...

, a cave in the Wied id-Dalam, near

Birżebbuġa Birżebbuġa (; sometimes shortened to B'Buġa) is a seaside town in the Southern Region of Malta, close to Marsaxlokk. It is approximately from the capital Valletta, and it has a population of 9,736 as of March 2014. The town is popular amon ...

, in the south-east of the island. The first traces of

human habitation Habitability refers to the adequacy of an environment for human living. Where housing is concerned, there are generally local ordinances which define habitability. If a residence complies with those laws it is said to be habitable. In extreme e ...

on the island date to this phase.

Further reading