The tale of the cave settlement of Ta' Baldu, Malta, and its water relations (Fig. 15.1)

The water features in the riverscape

• Stream rising in depression in plateau, with springs and winter run-off (semi(?)-wetland).

• Stream flowing down off plateau, shallow ravine widening downstream, very fertile valley bottom.

• Stream used for irrigation. High walls give shelter, with weeping holes and stream holes for the passage of water.

• Stream dries with abstraction and drainage. Gallery tunnels have been excavated below. Wind pumps now abstract water near (not at) where the stream rose.

• Springs, large and small, rise at base of bedding planes in the hard limestone cliffs under the plateau, bounding the valley.

• One spring rises in the larger of the two cave rooms of Ta' Baldu.

• Springs were used for domestic supply and irrigation.

• Stone irrigation channels were built to convey water. These are still extant downstream leading from the next large spring.

• Gallery (c. 1.5 m × 0.8 m) dug in the limestone to bring out more water, into the cave room. (This is thought to be mediaeval.)

• Ancient path leads down into valley, crossing a (tributary) stream by a bridge to reach the ‘larger’ settlement of is-Simblija.

• Arab bath, like a Malta reservoir, inside cave room.

• So, several layers of water use within the cave rooms.

• Access to area is now restricted, in case men with bowsers (water tankers) come to steal water. (This could be reached, by a long pipe hanging down, with a pump.)

• Good irrigation (as well as shelter, from valley and walls, and fertile soil) gives very fertile cultivation. In the seventeenth century, fruit from here was said to be the best in Malta. The fields are still very fertile.