The Misrah is-Sinjura” Dolmen

On the road leading from Qrendi to Siggiewi which passes in front of a concrete plant sited next to a disused quarry, one can find one of the finest Neolithic Dolmen in the Maltese Islands. Few are familiar with the site of this dolmen and fewer still know what a dolmen is and what was its purpose.

A Dolmen is a prehistoric monument made of a large horizontal flat slab of stone laid over a number of smaller vertical upright stones. These stones support the larger capstone, consisting of either Globigerina or Coralline limestone to form a table-like structure.

All the stone used in the dolmen’s construction are unworked except for intentional surface markings. These consist of straight grooves and shallows hollows.  The chamber enclosed by the dolmen is usually enlarged by a depression excavated in the rock below the capstone. The role of these monuments is considered to be funerary, dating back to the first Bronze Age culture of Malta, mainly the Tarxien Cemetery culture (2500 – 1500 B.C.)

The Misrah Sinjura dolmen, known as il-Hagra l-Imsaqfa, is the largest dolmen in Malta with a capstone measuring 4.40 by 3.80m. This capstone is supported by a rectangular wall made of several courses of large stones. It is probable that a number of these stones do not belong to the original structure. An opening in this supporting wall, leads to the chamber underneath the dolmen.

The surface markings consisting of a groove running around three edges of the monument's surface together with a shallow cup-shaped hollow over the north-western corner are typical of dolmens around the island.

Over the years a hut was built on the top of the capstone, as was a stair way leading up to this structure. It is believed that this small hut was used as a storage place for tools or as a shelter for quarry workers toiling in its vicinity.

The dolmen is sited on private land.