165 research outputs found
A newly discovered late Punic-Roman rock-cut tomb at Limestone Heritage, Siggiewi (Malta)
At Siggiewi, in the area known as Ta'
Zagi, situated at a short distance from
and overlooking Wied Xkora is a recently
discovered rock-cut tomb which was at some
point in its history refashioned into a water
cistern (GR 49738/67965) (Fig. 1). The tomb
is located within the grounds of the Limestone
Heritage park, and was recently integrated in
the cultural itinerary of its visitors. A request
for the study of the tomb was made by Mr
Emanuel Baldacchino, the Managing Director
of Limestone Heritage, to one of us (NCV).
A survey of the tomb was carried out and a
set of drawings were produced by the other
one of us (MS) (Fig. 2). The aim of this short
contribution is to present the results of the
survey.peer-reviewe
A face from the past : death ritual in Punic Malta
On 19th January 1918 the curator of the Valletta museum, Themistocles Zammit, was summoned to a rocky plateau outside Rabat (Malta) to inspect two rock-cut tombs that had been discovered there by accident (Fig. 1) . This was not the first discovery in the area of Qallilija (previously known as Kallilija). In July of the previous year, Zammit had excavated and recorded another tomb , whereas in the autumn of 1912 at least eight tombs had been investigated together with one each in 1914 and 1916 . What was unique about the 1918 find, however, was the discovery of a face sculpted in relief inside one of the tombs.peer-reviewe
Trunkless legs of stone : debating ritual continuity at tas-Silġ, Malta
An Index follows this Chapter.Like the traveller from an antique land in
Percy Shelley's sonnet 'Ozymandias', it is
a pair of trunkless legs of stone that
caught the attention of the present writer
and inspired the title of this paper. The
damaged statue I have in mind was
discovered by Italian archaeologists at the
site of Tas-Silġ in 1964 and is at present
exhibited at the National Museum of
Archaeology in Malta (Ciasca 1965: 57;
Mallia 1965: 75-76) [Figures 1 & 2]. It
represents a figure sculpted in high relief
from a rectangular block of soft
globigerina limestone, measuring 1.14 m.
high, 0.49 m. wide, and 0.47 m. deep
[Figures 3 & 4, plate 1a]. The figure
wears a skirt and stands on short and
swollen calves above a low plinth
decorated with running spirals on a pitted
background with a border round the top.
The feet are partly damaged but the toes
of the right foot are visible. Above the
waist the damage increases in extent and
in depth and most of the thorax is
missing; enough of the arms survive,
however, to show that they were held
across the waist below two folds of the
abdomen. Francis Mallia, then curator of
the National Museum, was responsible for
the publication of the statue: he dated the
sculpture to the Tarxien phase, now
known to have ended about 2600 cal BC,
and maintained that the scars on the
surface were 'made by the blade of a
farmer's plough in going over the relic year
after year and hitting its most prominent
parts' (Mallia 1965: 75).peer-reviewe
La Geografia di Tolomeo e le rotte marittime mediterranee
Se percorriamo una carta del Mediterraneo balza subito agli occhi uno spazio litorale ricco di porti e approdi, capi e promontori, isolotti e stretti, spazi dove il contatto tra la terra e il mare avviene in modo netto. Ci sono poi le acque che bagnano questo spazio, acque costiere e quel- le di alto mare, spazi navigabili che hanno permesso il contatto tra popoli su sponde diverse del bacino mediterraneo. Nella nostra carta mancano però le linee che tracciano questi con- tatti millenari, le rotte lungo le coste e attraverso i mari. Mancano, insomma, l’equivalente delle strade, i ponti, i sentieri, le strutture visibili di una rete complessa di viabilità , che per- mettono agli storici del paesaggio di capire le dinamiche di un territorio attraverso i tempi. Questo studio si propone di gettare luce sulle rotte marittime tramite una fonte a prima vista inusuale – la Geografia di Tolomeo, la quale racchiude nell’elenco di coordinate un processo di trasformazione cartografica dello spazio osservato, descritto e vissuto dalle genti di mare. Nell’ambito dell’progetto ANSER, questo studio vuole anche porre la problematica della valorizzazione delle rotte marittime, linee intangibili sulla nostra carta del Mediterraneo.peer-reviewe
Legislating, protecting, knowing : legal issues and cultural heritage in the Maltese Archipelago
‘They used to see this woman carrying a large stone on her head. She had a baby ... some say that she carried her baby in her arms, others that she carried the baby in a pocket of her dress, others that the baby was placed in a sling across her body; in her pocket were more than 300 square metres worth of broad beans; she also had four kilograms of flax; when she walked she ate beans, worked the flax, and steadied the stone on her head. In Gozo she built the small stone hut at Ta’ĊenÄ‹, called Id-Dura tal-Mara. From there she carried the stones to Ä gantija, in Xagħra, as she had carried the standing stone to Qala, and the stones to BorÄ¡ Għarib near Għajnsielem. On the Ta’ ÄŠenÄ‹ heights, on the windswept plateau, there is a construction similar to Ä gantija, and along the edge there are remains of many stones forming a wall. Even these were carried by this woman.
About the standing stone they say that it was carried by a woman one and a half times taller than the stone. She used to climb over it to work flax. In her pockets she could hold more than 600 square metres worth of broad beans.’peer-reviewe
Archeologia e fascismo negli archivi di Luigi Maria Ugolini
The rediscovery of the archives related to the research carried out in Malta by L. M. Ugolini on behalf of the Regime, together with the study of related documentation, allows us to reconstruct how Prehistory came to be used in the Twenties to justify Italian territorial aspirations in the Mediterranean. These theories contradicted Nordist claims that it was the Aryans who brought ci- vilization to the Mediterranean; they also put to rest the outdated view that the Phoenicians were responsible for the megalithic temples of Malta. In the course of his life, Ugolini acted as a voice of propaganda for the Regime. However, as staunch believer of Mediterraneanism, he worked tirelessly to highlight the grandeur of prehistoric cultures throu- ghout the Mediterranean, and sought archaeological evidence to support the anthropological theories of G. Sergi on the origins of the Mediterranean race.peer-reviewe
Copy or authentic : analysis of a Phoenician gold ring from the National Museum of Archaeology, Valletta, Malta
The present work is a study of a Phoenician finger ring from the collection of the National Museum of Archaeology, Malta. The item was first described by the museum’s director Themistocles Zammit in 1925, and is believed to date to the 6th century BC. The ring consists of two stirrup-shaped hoops, which can be worn separately or fitted together and worn as a single piece. Inscribed on the bezel surface is a seafaring vessel. Zammit described the artefact as manufactured in pure gold, quoting its mass as 9.65 g. The ring in the collection fits Zammit’s description but differs significantly in weight. The aim of this paper is throw light on the authenticity of this ring using documentary sources and non-invasive scientific techniques of analysis. Optical and electron microscopy allowed a thorough description of the manufacturing technique, while the material analysis was conducted via energy dispersive spectrometry. As a result of these analyses, it was concluded that the ring is not authentic, but is most probably a copy, possibly commissioned by Zammit himself.peer-reviewe
A view from the countryside : pollen from a field at Mistra Valley, Malta
Although historical sources for the Early Modern development of the Maltese landscape are abundant and well-documented, these records are uncorroborated by other forms of evidence. As part of investigations of the development of a field system at Mistra Valley, Malta, a sample was taken from a waterlain layer at the base of a field-fill on the edge of the valley-floor in Mistra Valley. Pollen and other analyses were done on this layer to identify the environment and agriculture of an early stage in the field system.peer-reviewe
Site, artefacts and landscape: Prehistoric Borg in-Nadur, Malta
Two major excavation campaigns took place at the site of Borġ
in-Nadur in the twentieth century, one by Margaret Murray and another by
David Trump. This paper highlights the discoveries and interpretations put
forth by archaeologists. Archival material is used to throw light on the
published stratigraphic sequence from the Bronze Age huts at the site.peer-reviewe
Site, artefacts and landscape : Prehistoric Borg in-Nadur, Malta
This paper reviews the evidence for maritime connections
between Malta and Sicily in the second millennium BC and considers their
social implications. Since much of what has been written by antiquarians
and archaeologists about the islands was often the result of more modern
maritime connections and knowledge transfer between local and foreign
scholars, we begin by arguing for the relevance of a spatially oriented
history of archaeological thought and practice.peer-reviewe
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