A team of archaeologists has embarked on a mission to uncover the meaning of several mysterious numbers that appear on the side of Maltese roads.
The numbers can be found painted on round metal disks attached to poles at regular intervals on most roads across the island. But they do not appear in any historical records, and no one has ever been able to determine when they appeared, what they mean, or who put them there.
“For me, the Road Numbers are Malta’s biggest archeological mystery, bigger even than the Hypogeum skulls or the cart ruts,” said Professor Imona Jetski, who is leading the team of archaeologists from the American University of Malta.
“And when you ask most Maltese people about them, the vast majority don’t even know what you’re talking about. They claim they’ve never even see the numbers despite driving past them several times a day, which makes me wonder if they have some kind of camouflaging property.”
Prof Jetski said the metal disks would be carbon dated to establish what era they are from. Speculating about their purpose, she said:
“The numbers are always multiples of 10, so maybe they have some religious significance. Or perhaps they’re a mathematical representation of the night sky.
“Or it could be they were used in a rating system. So for example, whatever site stood on what is now the St Paul’s Bay bypass had a score of 80, which is relatively high and would indicate that it was an important location. But hopefully we’ll have a better idea in a few months.
Not everyone believes the meaning of the Road Numbers is so mysterious, however.
“These signs obviously indicate the minimum speed at which you should drive on the roads,” said historian Michael Scerri.
READ NEXT: Maltese Church teams up with Twistees to introduce cheesy Communion wafers
