Tal-Barrani

[2][A] At least from the 17th century onwards, Tal-Barrani was a recognised agricultural estate, and was documented in the 1654 property book of the Order of St. John, the Cabreo Magisteriale.

[7] Tal-Barrani is an important transportation link in the south-eastern part of the island, with a major road cutting the area in half.

The existing road consists of a dual carriageway of two northbound and two southbound lanes separated by a central reserve.

The clashes erupted with the appearance of members of the police's Special Mobile Unit, who fired teargas canisters and rubber bullets onto the crowd, and mayhem ensued.

In a number of areas in Malta and Gozo, a type of calcareous colluvium lies above a layer of terra fusca.

[B] If the colluvium is thin, the mixing of the two layers due to tilling over a long period of time will produce a uniform brown soil, very rich in clay.

These include an ancient tomb cluster and field systems at the Tal-Ħotba site at Tal-Barrani, and a number of late Roman and Byzantine catacombs.

[3] Three ancient Punic rock-cut tombs were uncovered and investigated by the Museums Department in 1965 and 1966 in the Tal-Ħotba area of Tal-Barrani.

In May 1993, an important Late Roman to Byzantine burial site was uncovered during trenching works along Tal-Barrani road, on the approach to the higher ground before the 25 November Avenue crossroads leading to Żejtun.

The presence of a Christian catacomb so close to a rock-cut chamber tomb is a rare occurrence, which is usually found only in the Rabat area.

Tal-Barrani provides evidence of continuity in usage of a much larger communal cemetery; this was initially made up of chamber tombs and a multi-chambered catacomb.

One of the skeletons discovered in 1993 showed evidence of an ankylosing spondylitis, and Forestier's disease, which is a chronic form of arthritis involving the spinal area.

The chamber contained two main areas, a rectangular burial site with a water trench cutting its middle, and an arcosolium at the back.

[20] The party's general secretary Louis Galea had alerted the police of rumours that the meeting would be obstructed by government supporters.

[20] When the Nationalist Party supporters approached, a small group of men tried to hold them back but eventually retreated behind a truck.

[10] The fully equipped Special Mobile Unit police then moved in, followed by over a hundred people, some of them masked and armed.