Maltese Archaeology Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

2025, ISLAND LEGACIES: prehistoric insular ecosystems, societies and climate change in the Mediterranean (University of Malta, 3-6 June 2025)

In the context of Bronze Age Mediterranean megalithism, dolmenic funerary architecture is arguably one of the most prominent yet also most problematic aspects. The numerous archaeological contexts across Sicily, southern Italy, Sardinia, North Africa, and the Maltese islands are still at the centre of the academic debate, particularly concerning their origin, chronology, and functional interpretation.
One important aspect of this phenomenon, not sufficiently explored so far, is the presence of dolmenic funerary architecture in the Maltese islands during the Early Bronze Age (Tarxien Cemetery phase, 2250-1500 BCE), a period that marks a crucial stage in the development of megalithic traditions. The evidence from Malta represents an intriguing chapter in the broader context of Mediterranean prehistory, raising important questions about insular interactions and their participation in the maritime networks that enabled the circulation of such architectural practices.
In this contribution, we present the results of a recent overall review of this evidence. The research started with a survey of the Maltese dolmenic structures, only briefly discussed in excavation reports and occasional publications. The condition of the surviving monuments was assessed in the field, resulting in updated typological and topographical documentation. In a following phase we focused on the study of selected pottery assemblages currently housed at the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta. These materials, only partially published, come from the two dolmenic complexes of Ta’ Ħammut and Wied Moqbol, and from a coeval cremation burial site at Msierah. This integrated approach enabled a detailed comparison between dolmenic and non-dolmenic funerary contexts, emphasizing architectural analogies and differences, and incorporating associated materials. The new data generated by this pilot study have provided valuable insights for the critical reassessment of the circulation of architectural models and funerary rituals in the Central Mediterranean during the 3rd and 2nd millennium BCE.

2025

In the Far East, and many centuries later in the West, the art and science of pyrotechnics had developed to form an integral part of a festive event, cultural or otherwise. Indeed, as in the case of the Maltese Archipelago, the art of pyrotechnics qualifies as intangible heritage in terms of the UNESCO's Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. It is an expression of living heritage which lends identity to a community and its cultural milieu. As the manufacturing process has to abide with optimal health and safety standards, the protection of fireworks production sites is of paramount significance. Development planning policies should be designed (i) to minimize the impact of such factories on the environment, whether it is natural, cultural and/or social and (ii) to protect these factories against urbanization, a major parameter in densely populated areas such as the Maltese Islands. Such policies should take into account the legacy of pyrotechnics, a cultural heritage of humanity. Working out and developing policies with the official authorities will guarantee implementable, scientifically grounded, planning regulations applicable to sites for the production and the setting off of fireworks. This will ensure sustainable existence of pyrotechnics with the socio-economic benefits which are associated with it.

2025

The aim of this research was to determine the provenance of Maltese ceramics and to determine the role pottery played in Maltese prehistoric trade and interaction networks. This study involved 236 Maltese ceramic samples, 19 geological clay samples from Ġnejna Bay & Selmun along with 18 ceramic samples from Ognina, Sicily, and four Sicilian clay samples from the outskirts of Siracusa that were non-destructively analyzed using a portable Xray fluorescence (pXRF) spectrometer to determine their trace elemental compositions (Th, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr and Nb). The results of this analysis were statistically analyzed using principal component analysis to ascertain relationships in the chemical compositions among the samples. The results of this analysis indicate that the majority of all the Maltese ceramic samples are locally produced from shared clay sources on the island of Malta, and that pottery played a more significant role in defining the nature of Malta's trade relationships during the Bronze Age. The following study has provided new insights into Malta's role in trade and interaction networks from the late Neolithic and Bronze Age and has raised new questions regarding the nature of Malta's cultural change from the Temple Period to the Bronze Age.

2025

1 At the time, both Ognjen Mladenović and Petar Milojević were enrolled in PhD Studies at the University of Belgrade -Faculty of Philosophy, and mentored by Dr. Marija Ljuština, also a team member. 2 At the time Dr. Bogdana Milić was affiliated to the Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology, Vienna. Pottery sampling, Museum of Mining and Metallurgy in Bor.

2024

Unpublished paper that was the final assignment for a study unit led by Dr. Rev. Jonathan Farrugia at the University of Malta.

2024, archimaera

With the Manikata Church (1962-1974), Maltese architect Richard England created an outstanding building that perfectly demonstrates how a critically-reflected engagement with vernacular building types can produce a timeless architecture of appropriateness. At the very centre of this paper, there is the personal experience of the church: An approaching, a deepening, a surrounding, an observing and a leaving add new perspectives and knowledge to previous studies of the building. In an excursus entitled ‘interlude’, selected positions of Bernard Rudofsky, Richard England and Kenneth Frampton are analysed and – complemented by the author's own thoughts – taken as an inspiration for seven general points towards architectural appropriateness.

2024, Sacred Precincts: the religious architecture of non-Muslim communities across the Islamic World

The period of history known as the Islamic Era is considered to be an uncomfortable period in Maltese history. For centuries local historians have gone out of their way to negate or at least minimize any influence – particularly religious – that the Arabs may have had on Malta and the Maltese. This has been done despite the overwhelming linguistic and toponomastic evidence that attests to a rich Arab heritage. Local traditional building construction techniques and vernacular architecture are other links with the Arab world.
The island's rich archaeological heritage has yielded many finds, the interpretation of which, until relatively recently, seemed to marginalize the Arabic implications of the finds. During the past few years a re-evaluation of the finds was initiated and this is bringing light to what was once a rather dark period of history. This is enabling a reassessment of the society on the islands at the time. The encouraging results suggested that even in the field of architecture, it might be opportune to re-examine previous studies and look at them in from a different perspective. Since no complete structure dating to the Arab period is known to exist in Malta, parts of a structure dating to this period would be considered instead. The studies of one of Malta's oldest extant mediaeval churches, located at the former settlement of Hal Millieri, were detailed enough to warrant this review. The existing early mediaeval building lies on the foundations of an older structure, which probably dates back to the period preceding the final expulsion of the Muslims from the island. It was fortuitous that the later building had preserved the foundations of the former. Also, the two superimposed structures had the same typology, which is reminiscent of mosques on the island of Djerba. Examination of the orientation of the building and compass measurements carried out on site have shown that the principal axis of the structure is closely aligned with the qibla. The orientation of the former building is even more accurate. These factors indicate that the building probably began its life as a mosque, thereby providing enriching our knowledge of this period.

2024, Vicino Oriente XXVIII N.S. - Peoples of the Middle Sea. Innovation and integration in ancient Mediterranean (1600-500 BC)

Religion and cult beliefs in the Maltese islands had been established for millennia from the Neolithic Age. The great number of the megalithic temples all over the country testified of a strong and shared religious feeling up to the Bronze Age. At the beginning of the Iron Age and especially with the arrival of the Phoenicians, the echo of this feeling was still strong, as evidenced by the reuse of the Bronze Age megalithic temples of Tas-Silġ in southern Malta, Ras ir-Raħeb on the northwestern coast of Malta and Ras il-Wardija on Gozo. The three sacred areas, notwithstanding their particularities and specific features, seem to share some other common issues, as the connection with the sea and the navigation and the relations to their agricultural hinterland.

2024, Vicino Oriente XXVIII N.S. - Peoples of the Middle Sea. Innovation and integration in ancient Mediterranean (1600-500 BC)

From the Bronze Age, the Maltese archipelago followed a particular and unique urban development throughout its history. Here is the attempt to underline this particularity, through a deepening into the settlement topography and land-use strategies of some of the most important Late Bronze and Iron Age's sites of Malta and Gozo, also by tracing the changes occurred after the arriving of Levantine newcomers in the 8 th century BC. This paper will focus on the specific urban strategies adopted by some of the most representative sites of the Bronze and Iron Age. It follows a brief outline about the location of the necropolis, intended as an essential marker to discover the presence of the Phoenician settlements. Altogether, these data shed a light on the comprehension of the Maltese ancient urban landscape, which appears as an interdependent system that involved, in the Late Bronze Age, a strong connection between many inland villages, their fertile lands and few landing bays. This system became more complex during the Iron Age, with the appearance of big urban centers exploiting the rural landscape and connected to important trading harbors.

2024, Festa Titulari Sant’Andrija 2024. Għaqda Mużikali Sant’Andrija - Ħal Luqa (pagni 123-131)

2024, Archaeopress Publishing Ltd eBooks

2024, International Journal of Osteoarchaeology

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2024, University of Malta. Gozo Campus

2023

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2023, Book Distributors Limited Publishing

2023, LA CERAMICA IN SICILIA dalla Preistoria all’Età Contemporanea

Pottery represents one of the main sources of information for archaeologists because, when compared to metals or or- ganic substances, because it has a greater capacity to resist chemical and physical aggressions from the soil that allows it to be kept even for very long periods. In this paper, the ribbed basins on a hollow and fenestrated foot which were found in the pits identified in front of the cave (holes 1386 and 1430) will be taken into consideration, to understand whether the forming shaping technique used to make them can help to shed a new light on their function.

2023, APS Mdina Cathedral Contemporary Art Biennale 2023 Edited by Guiseppe Schembri Bonaci & Nikki Petroni

Maltese archaeology has long been bedeviled by the Mother Goddess debate pitting Mother Goddess (MG) adherents against professional archaeologists. Both groups largely talked past each other without deriving much mutual benefit. This contribution argues that despite their indubitable differences, both MG adherents and academic archaeologists shared a common tendency: they adopted contemporary representations (works of art by the former, other examples of social formations by the latter) to read into their material. The former did this largely through metaphor (e.g., a temple plan is the outline of the Mother Goddess, a temple entrance is a vagina, etc); the latter through analogy (Malta’s Temple society is similar to Easter Island: small, monumental, and terminal). Oversubscription to our models impedes us from adapting them. On the one hand, MG theorists failed to consider that far from being ‘natural’, female corpulence and sexuality may have been harnessed for matrimonial alliances and reproduction. In short, it had a this-worldly politico-aesthetic component, rather than an other-worldly numinousness. On the other, professional archaeologists may not have appreciated that artistic renditions based upon metaphor employ an “imaginative rationality” that can provide provocative insights. This chapter argues in favour of modifying the ‘Chiefdom model’ to entertain alternative modes of political mobilisation and surplus extraction, such as an oscillating ‘big- manism’ as a reaction to the declining resources.

2023

The climate of the central Mediterranean archipelago of Malta is characterised by hot dry summers and cold humid winters. For centuries, the architecture of these geoheritage islands, erected in the local limestone, has addressed the physical characteristics arising from the topography. This industrial mineral, the source of dimension stones for the building construction industry since time immemorial, is being depleted at a rapid rate. The Islands have a significant stock of buildings which, due to growing public awareness, development planning policies and central government initiatives for heritage protection, are being restored, conserved and re-used. This paper explores contemporary sustainable residential architecture completed in recent years in existing urban contexts from environmental, technical and financial perspectives. Adopting a holistic approach to architectural design, bioclimatic and passive considerations would enhance the environmental quality of the existing built environment. Integrating them in the redevelopment through modifications and extensions to existing buildings in order to meet contemporary habitable standards rather than demolishing and developing new residential developments proved to be a viable option from all three perspectives. The resulting sustainable design solution optimizes on energy and land resources through minimising the impact/s on the natural environs which future generations will be enjoying. In addition to having healthier interiors, a prerequisite for the human wellbeing of users, such an approach is financially more remunerative. Based on case studies, this study concludes that energy site sensitive environmental design decisions integrated in existing residential properties is a secure socioeconomic investment in the built heritage. The redesigned modifications and extensions are not only sustainable in terms of thermal and natural lighting but also in terms of building materials and construction techniques.

2023, 2023 IMEKO International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage

The Maltese archipelago is home to megalithic structures of extraordinary interest for archaeo-astronomy. Some of those impressive prehistoric complexes have revealed significant architectural and topographic features reflecting a certain knowledge of the celestial bodies and astronomical phenomena by their ancient builders. While previous archaeo-astronomical studies of these Neolithic structures were primarily based on traditional methods, this paper presents an innovative approach for the case study of the Bor􀆥 in-Nadur site. Through an ensemble of techniques, such as
terrestrial laser scanning, aerial and terrestrial digital photogrammetry and 3D modeling, the prehistoric remains have been 3D digitized and inserted in a virtual environment to test archaeo-astronomical hypotheses via computer simulation.

2023, Malta Archaeological Review

A sketch book by Filippo Vassallo is a primary source for late nineteenth-century documentation of archaeological sites in the Maltese Islands. Other than revealing the documentation process behind the first plan of St Paul’s Catacombs (Malta), the extensive use of surveying and the attention for detail make the sketch book an important witness to the evolving contemporary Maltese recording of archaeological finds. It also throws light on how A. A. Caruana’s 1898 book on Maltese ancient burial sites was put together.

2023, USTICA I

Questo libro è la traduzione autorizzata del volume Ustica I Excavations of 1990 and 1991, Providence, 1995, di R. Ross Holloway e Susan S. Lukesh con i contributi di Kathryn Cruz-Uribe, Owen P. Doonan IV, Clarence H. Gifford III, Robert H. Tykot, accompagnata dai saggi dei curatori, Anna Russolillo, Franco Foresta Martin, Pierfrancesco Talamo e di Susan Snow Lukesh, Anne Studholme Holloway, Peter van Dommelen e Francesca Spatafora. Grazie alla posizione strategica della Sicilia, crocevia di tre continenti, la preistoria siciliana offre un quadro ricco e variegato. In questo contesto Ustica da mezzo secolo è terreno fertile di ricerche e di scavi che hanno permesso di comporre una cospicua documentazione sul Villaggio dei Faraglioni, uno dei siti archeologici della Media Età del Bronzo meglio conservato del Mediterraneo. Gli studi e le ricerche sono stati intrapresi dal 1974 soprattutto ad opera di Mannino (1974, 1975, 1977, 1980), Holloway e Lukesh (1990, 1991, 1994, 1999), Spatafora (2009, 2012, 2013, 2016), Russolillo, Foresta Martin, Talamo (2021, 2022, 2023).

2023

The scope of this study is to provide a preliminary analysis of the cultural data retrieved by the archaeological excavation undertaken within the precincts of the Madonna tal-Ħniena Church in Qrendi during AD 2021. The study aims to... more

2023, International Journal of Osteoarchaeology

Objectives: Palaeopathological analysis is key for characterising population health at the individual level and across large assemblages but is rarely exploited to unite the remains of disarticulated individuals. This study explores the potential for individual identification through differential diagnosis of periosteal lesions in a commingled deposit, both to ascertain the number of individuals represented and provide a differential diagnosis. Materials and Methods: The late Neolithic Xagħra Circle hypogeum on Gozo contains the remains of more than 800 individuals, most of which were transformed to a collective disarticulated assemblage. Across the excavated population, pathological observations are strikingly low. In one specific 1 Â 1-m area in a single stratigraphic context, fragmented and disarticulated cranial and post-cranial non-adult bones were identified that displayed periosteal new bone formation. To aid differential diagnosis, macroscopic analysis, taphonomic analysis and micro-computed tomography (μCT) imaging were integrated. Results: This approach, when combined with osteobiographical analyses, reveals that the elements most likely derive from one individual, a young child, who presents a probable case of scurvy. The potential for micronutrient co-morbidities are explored, but without further microscopic study it cannot be determined if this individual also experienced iron-deficiency anaemia and/or rickets. Discussion: In the context of the Mediterranean and Europe in later prehistory, reported cases of scurvy are currently low and often reveal periods of environmental instability and resource insufficiency. Our finding of non-adult scurvy in late 3rd millennium BC Malta contributes to a developing picture of an increasingly unstable palaeoenvironment and declining population health at this time, although it may also indicate an individual case of poor childhood health within this broader context.

2023, Collection Préhistodigest 2

Basile Foramen-Nourricier, jeune et fringant fauniste français, d’un naturel curieux et pugnace, lisse sa fine moustache et réajuste son nœud papillon. De passage à Malte, il va nous raconter l’incroyable saga de Ghar Dalam Cave.

2023, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

The end of prehistory in the Maltese archipelago is characterized by the production of a problematic class of pottery, until now attested just at the site of Baħrija, on the western coast of Malta. Such a production represents a break with the tradition in terms of repertoire of shapes, style and technology and it has been interpreted as the result of contact between locals and foreign immigrants. The recent overall reappraisal of the unpublished ceramic assemblage collected during the excavations carried out at Baħrija, represents a unique opportunity to focus on the technological aspects of the production, trying to shed light on the issue of the break with the tradition and the impact of external influxes. Petrographic analysis on thin sections and chemical analyses via Xray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (LA-ICP-MS) have been carried out to characterize the Baħrija pottery production in order to interpret from a different angle the issue of the possible arrival of newcomers and establishment of a foreign enclave in Malta, which until now has been hypothesized only on the basis of the sudden emergence of the Baħrija pottery.

2023, Open Archaeology

Sites from the earliest known phases of Maltese prehistory often consist of scatters of sherds for the Għar Dalam and Skorba phases (6000-4800 BCE), and tomb contexts for the Żebbuġ phase (3800-3600 BCE). Neolithic studies are, therefore, heavily reliant on the study of pottery. Although traditional typological and seriation-based analyses of the pottery record have substantially enhanced our knowledge of Early Neolithic Malta, there is a growing appreciation of the need to go beyond these approaches to gain new insights. This study reviews the accessible literature on fabric studies on assemblages found in the Maltese Islands, presenting the state of knowledge for the pottery of the Għar Dalam, Skorba (Early Neolithic), and Żebbuġ (Late Neolithic) phases. Microphotographs of pottery wares were selected from a compilation produced for an ongoing project (the MaltaPot project) to illustrate the descriptions found in the literature. The advances made by archaeologists in studying the Maltese Neolithic pottery are reviewed, and suggestions for building on them are proposed, as archaeometric and petrographic techniques have not been applied systematically to Neolithic pottery from Malta.

2023, Il-vara titulari tal-Lunzjata ta’ Ħal Balzan 1869-2019, C. Bezzina (ed.), Balzan parish church, Malta

9 On Bellanti, refer to Mark Sagona, 'Michele Bellanti: new discoveries and a fresh reading of his ecclesiastical works', in William Zammit (ed.), The Bellanti Family: Contributions to Art and Culture in Malta, Malta 2010, 137-167. 42 Among the documented nineteenth-century pedestals, there is that for the processional titular statue of St George for the homonymous church in Victoria, Gozo, by Pietro Paolo Azzopardi.

2023, MCAST Journal of Applied Research & Practice

It is widely acknowledged that micro-firms, together with small- and mediumsizedenterprises (SMEs), contribute economic value to their countrys Gross DomesticProduct such that they are considered to be the backbone of their countrys economy.However, small- and micro-firms face tests emanating from a lack of resources, access tofinance, shortage of databases, increase in market competition, and a lack of entrepreneurialeagerness, capacity, and expertise. This research study examines to what extent Gozo, asmall island, can strengthen its economic development and competitiveness by offeringits micro-firms a business incubation centre. A micro-firm employs up to nine employees.The research stance applied is grounded theory methodology as advocated by Charmazs(2006) constructivist approach. The use of interpretive and qualitative in-depth interviewsis undertaken with nine owner-managers of micro-firms where one could note that thespirit of entrepreneurship of these owner-managers is high...

2023, Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage

Multidisciplinary remote sensing surveying techniques were employed at the site of the Abbatija tad-Dejr Catacombs in Rabat (Malta) as part of a collaborative research project of the University of South Florida's Institute for Digital Exploration (IDEx) and Heritage Malta aimed to map the complex for interpretation and conservation purposes and to assess the eventual presence of further hypogea in the areas surrounding the site. In this study, terrestrial laser scanning and hand-held digital photogrammetry were employed to map the entire complex in 3D and digitize specific architectural and artistic features found within Hypogea I and IV. In particular, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) were used to verify the presence of hypogeal structures and tombs and the results have showed how the prospection has identified anomalies of possible relevant archaeological interest.

2023, Amino Acids

Mass spectrometry-based approaches have been successfully applied for identifying ancient proteins in bones and other tissues. On the contrary, there are relatively few examples of the successful recovery and identification of archeological protein residues from ceramic artifacts; this is because ceramics contain much lower levels of proteins which are extensively degraded by diagenetic effects. In this paper, we report the results of the characterization of proteins extracted from pottery of the Maltese site of Baħrija, the guide-site for the Baħrija period (half of 9th–second half of eighth century BCE), recently identified as the final part of the Borġ in-Nadur culture. Proteomic data here reported confirm that one of the major issue of these kind of studies is represented by contamination of animal and human agents that may complicate endogenous protein identification and authentication. The samples tested included a small group of ceramic forms, namely three tableware and six c...

2023, Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage 30, pp. 1-27

2023, Fabrizio Nicoletti (ed.), Siracusa Antica. Nuove prospettive di ricerca

ORTIGIA IN PREHISTORY - Heart of the city founded by the Corinthians in 734 BC, Ortigia, which over time has been both an island and a peninsula, was already inhabited by Indigenous peoples remembered by Thucydides. The archaeological finds carried out on several occasions in different areas, show that a human settlement of much older origins than the one that must have preceded the Greek colony of Syracuse existed on the island. Few and uncertain evidences are dated to the Neolithic Age, but the first traces of sedentary life, attested by a curvilinear building, hearths, votive dimples and a well, date back to the Ancient Bronze Age, at least to the 17th century BC. This settlement, which initially was to be distributed in different areas of the island, in the Middle Bronze Age had to concentrate only in its central part, where rectilinear and curvilinear buildings are testified, not far from which there was, perhaps, also a rock-cut tombs necropolis overlooking on the vast lagoon of the Porto Grande. The absence of contexts and finds dating back to the Late Bronze Age could indicate a shrinkage in human presence in the 13th and 12th centuries BC. Starting from the Final Bronze Age and up to the Ancient Iron Age, between the 11th and 9th centuries BC, a vast inhabited area developed on the island, still characterized by curvili-near and rectilinear buildings, of which the relative necropolis is unknown. The archaeological data do not clarify whether this settlement was still existing around the half of the 8th century BC, when the Greeks founded Syracuse, but surely in the early life stages of the Corinthian colony numerous objects of local origin were still circulating in Ortigia, and probably also their indigenous producers, who moreover the ancient historians remember as subordinate elements of the Syracusan socie-ty of full historical age.

2023

The area known as Tas-Silg is situated in the so uth-eastern part of the island of Malta, close to Marsaxlokk harbour (figs. la and Ib). In reality the place name refers to the small church dedicated to Our Lady of the Snows (hence Tas-Silg) situated at the point where the narrow • road from Zejtun fo rks out in two directions: to Delimara and Xrobb il-Ghagin due southeast and la Marsaxlokk village due southwest. A British-period fort occupying the highest point of the elongated hill further south along• the first road also carries the same place name. The lower and more compact hill on which the excavations have been conducted is called 'Ta' Berikka' ,I but since it is so close to the above-mentioned church (only 50 m to the north) the tradition of calling it Tas-Silg is now well established and there is no sense in changing it. 2 The site has a commanding view of the Marsaxlokk harbour to the south and overlooks two other bays, Marsascala and St Thomas's bay, to the northeast. On all sides the slope is broken up by man-made terraced fields (pi. 11: I), There is no doubt that the topography of the site must have been a determining factor in its choice for the establishment of a religious centre in the Temple period of Maltese p rehist~ry (3000-2500 BC), though one must keep in mind that close to Tas-S ilg there are three other prehistoric temple sites. each one wi th a comple tely different topography. The Temple people were qu ite introverted in their cultural isolation and do not seem to have been much interested in seafaring and in the outside world. The situation changed radically in the following age, the Bronze Age. when the island was occupied by people who set up villages on naturally The drawings are by Nicholas C. Vella (figures 1-8, 14) and Claudia Sagona (figures 9-13).

2023, La Sicilia preistorica. Dinamiche interne e relazioni esterne - Congresso Internazionale di Studi – Catania-Siracusa 7-9 ottobre

2023, The Antiquaries Journal

2023, … Maltese Prehistory (Prehistoric Society of Malta, Malta)

2022, Geological Society, London, Special Publications

A set of 41 samples from Tas-Silg, Malta, has been analysed by neutron activation. It contained nine ware groups formed by visual examination covering the Late Neolithic, Bronze Age and Punic Periods (c. 3000-218 bc). Despite this diversity and long time range, seven of these ware groups, including the ‘Thermi Ware’, all have a similar chemical composition and, therefore, have been made from the same clay. This points most probably to a local origin. One group from the Punic Period, containing only Bricky Red cooking ware, is chemically separate and represents a second distinct pattern probably assignable to a local production. Five amphora sherds also from the Punic Period, and consisting of a micaceous fabric, all have different chemical characteristics and are probably imports from overseas production sites of unknown location.

2022, An Island In Transition, 700 to 1700 AD The Archaeology of Medieval Gozo

Gozo is the second largest island within the Maltese archipelago. Gozo is a typical Mediterranean micro-territory, supporting a interesting polity and economy which was distinct, if closely bound to, its larger Maltese neighbour.... more

2022

San Pawl Milqi is found in the north-eastern part of the island of Malta next to Salina bay and overlooking Burmarrad valley. The site was originally situated on an important harbour that is now silted, and was surrounded by agricultural land. The area is rich in archaeological remains belonging to different periods. The boundary wall of the multi-cultural site incorporates an area of approximately 4000 m2. Within this area there is evidence of prehistoric settlement, punic farmhouse, a rural villa belonging to the end of the 2nd century B.C. and evidence of a later period from the 1st to the 11th century A.D. There is evidence that at least two churches were constructed on site. The potential and value of San Pawl Milqi is historical and archaeological, scientific, didactic, social and religious and most importantly a very good example of an ever changing cultural landscape. Recently there have been attempts in studying the environment of the archaeological remains that are exposed...

2022

A model of a niche at present on display at the National Museum of Archaeology is reassessed and compared with earlier descriptions. New interpretations of possible connections with the weaving industry are forwarded. The conclusions are discussed within the framework of available evidence for the industry of cloth making in the context of Maltese Prehistory.

2022, Preistoria del cibo. L'alimentazione nella preistoria e nella protostoria

Comunicazioni

2022, LA SICILIA PREISTORICA Dinamiche interne e relazioni esterne Atti del Convegno Internazionale Catania – Siracusa, 7-9 ottobre 2021 a cura di Pietro Militello, Fabrizio Nicoletti, Rosalba Panvini Palermo 2021

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2022, La Sicilia Preistorica. Dinamiche interne e relazioni esterne, Atti del Convegno Internazionale Catania – Siracusa, 7-9 ottobre 2021 - a cura di P. Militello, F. NIcoletti, R. Panvini

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2022, Geological Society, London, Special Publications

2022

Sicily, understood as a vast archipelago comprising the major island, serving as a continent, and the smaller islands that surround it, and the continental masses next to it such as Calabria south of the Aspromonte or the Kelibia... more

2022

2.1. Introduction: chronology building in the Maltese islands 2.1.1. Malta and megalithismus 2.1.2. Malta and the Mediterranean: the development of absolute chronologies 2.2. Methodology 2.2.1. Sources of data 2.2.2. AMS radiocarbon dating 2.2.3. Bayesian phase modelling 2.2.4. Density modelling 2.3. Results 2.3.1. Early Neolithic Għar Dalam and Skorba phases 2.3.2. Fifth millennium hiatus 2.3.3. Żebbuġ phase 2.3.4. Mġarr / transitional Ġgantija phase 2.3.5. Ġgantija phase 2.3.6. Saflieni phase 2.3.7. Tarxien phase 2.3.8. Thermi phase vi 2.3.9. Tarxien Cemetery phase 2.3.10. Borġ in-Nadur phase 2.3.11. Preferred model summary 2.3.12. Kernel density model 2.3.13. Comparison with other regions 2.4. Non-prehistoric dates 2.5. Discussion 2.6. Conclusion Chapter