The Archaeological Society Malta

Looking at old pots with fresh eyes: revisiting the pottery from the 1960s excavation at Ras ir-Raħeb (Malta)
2021-12-15 18:00 - 19:30 (Europe/Malta)
Lecture by Dr Maxine Anastasi, Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta.
Between 1960 and 1961, several crates of pottery and other finds were collected during the excavation of the remote site of Ras ir-Raħeb (Malta). A provisional survey of the pottery concluded the material was mostly Punic in date, but it was the figurative and artistic finds—namely the intricate clay masks, carved ivory plaque, and terracotta figurines—that attracted the most attention, as well as the confidence in dating the site’s primary occupation to the Punic period, and determining a ritual function likely dedicated to the Phoenician god Melqart. Although these initial conclusions remain predominantly unchanged, recent analysis of the pottery has offered some new insights into the chronology and overall nature of the site. The aim of this talk is to present these new findings, and explain them within the context of the early 1960s excavation, as well as the seminal studies that followed.
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CANCELLED - Afternoon site visit
2021-11-27 14:00 - 15:30
Location to be confirmed.

‘Flying high in an unfriendly sky’: How aviation changed Malta for good during the Second World War
2021-11-17 18:00 - 19:30
Lecture by Mr Anthony Burgess, guest lecturer in Maritime Archaeology at the University of Malta.
The impact of aviation on Malta can be seen in many ways, from the obvious such as airports and anti-aircraft sites, to the less obvious or even invisible. In this presentation Mr Burgess will look at a number of ways in which aviation manifested itself in Malta, such as the airfields, air raid shelters and anti-aircraft sites, charting how they changed during the war, warping the physical landscape as they did so. Such dramatic effects to the physical landscape also affected the mental landscape for all those involved too, their minds attuned to the sounds and sights associated with the airscape unfolding above their heads. The end result is an island archipelago that is saturated with its effects, effects that continue to shape its physical and mental landscape today.
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CANCELLED - Visit to Msida Bastion Cemetery and Historic Garden
2021-10-30 14:00 - 15:30
Site visit at 2 pm to the Msida Bastion Cemetery and Historic Garden, a heritage site restored and managed by Din l-Art Ħelwa. The 90-minute visit, against an entrance fee of €5 which includes coffee/tea/water with biscuits at the end, will be led by site warden Mr Paolo Ferrelli. Numbers will be limited to the first 20 fully vaccinated paid up members who apply, no guests. More details to follow.
NB The Archaeological Society Malta is a Collaborating Organization of International Archaeology Day organised by the Archaeological Institute of America. The October events will be part of the International Archaeology Day on 16 October.

Putting the stone back in the Stone Age: new research on the end of the Maltese Temple Period
2021-10-20 18:00 - 19:30
Lecture by Dr Huw S. Groucutt, Max Planck Independent Research Group leader in Jena, Germany.
After existing for over one thousand years, the Maltese Temple Period ended around 4,300 years ago. Understanding why has been a topic of considerable interest and debate. In this talk Dr Groucutt will discuss this topic, outlining recent research on themes such as regional climate change and evidence for the arrival of new groups of humans. Chronological modelling studies are presented which indicate a correlation between archaeological activity and regional climate, which indicate a long-term societal decline in the final centuries of the Temple Period. Yet, does climate change alone explain the end of the Temple Period, or was something else involved, such as new groups of humans arriving, perhaps bringing a plague epidemic with them? Against this backdrop Dr Groucutt will outline recent research on the distribution and character of Maltese chert. Chert was the main kind of stone used to make stone tools in Maltese prehistory, and is therefore crucial to understanding ancient Maltese society, yet it has seen relatively little study. New insights on the distribution and character of chert in Malta are discussed. This offers new perspectives on the character of Temple Period material culture, and the extent to which the Maltese islands were isolated or integrated with neighbouring regions such as Sicily.
NB The Archaeological Society Malta is a Collaborating Organization of International Archaeology Day organised by the Archaeological Institute of America. The October events will be part of the International Archaeology Day on 16 October.

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Annual General Meeting - POSTPONED
2021-05-29 11:00 - 12:30
Details to be announced closer to the date.

The contribution of Francis S. Mallia (1921-1988) to Maltese archaeological practice
2021-05-19 18:00 - 19:30
Lecture by Mr Nico Muscat, Masters graduate in Archaeology, University of Malta.

Photo: Francis Mallia in 1963 excavating Għar il-Friefet.
Part of the University of Malta/ F. Mallia collection.
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A historiography of Maltese catacomb study: from the sixteenth century to 1899
2021-04-21 18:00 - 19:30
Lecture by Ms Rebecca Xerri, graduate in Archaeology, University of Malta.

Photo: St. Paul’s catacombs, Rabat – Malta.
Uncover Malta, 2019.
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A Potted History: Malta's Earliest Pottery
2021-03-17 18:00 - 19:30
Lecture by Dr Catriona Brogan, Research Fellow from the School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast; Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship, University of Malta.
Photo: Detailed characterisation studies (such as EDS: main image) of the early Maltese pottery fabrics are helping us to unravel aspects of Malta’s Early Neolithic cultures (Credit- MaltaPot Project).
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Introduction to Roman glass forming and decoration techniques
2021-02-17 18:00 - 19:30
Lecture by Ms Liliya Pangelova, a Bulgarian visual artist who lives and works in Malta. She has a Masters in Ceramic and Glass Design from the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Istanbul.

Photo: Roman glass from the 2nd century. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Roman_glass
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Eggstraordinary Objects: ostrich eggs as luxury items in the ancient Mediterranean
2021-01-20 18:00 - 19:30
Lecture by Dr Tamar Hodos, Reader in Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Bristol.
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Provenance investigation of stone tools and the position of Malta in the Neolithic network of the Central Mediterranean Sea
2020-12-09 18:00 - 19:30
Lecture by Dr Petros Chatzimpaloglou, affiliated post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge.
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The Jebel Moya Project: Pastoralists and Farmers in southern Sudan
2020-11-18 18:00 - 19:30
Presentation by Dr Isabelle Vella Gregory, affiliate scholar at the McDonald Institute for Archaeology, University of Cambridge, and Dr Michael Brass, co-director of the University College London – University of Khartoum – NCAM Expedition to the Southern Gezira.
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Half a decade of diving the Phoenician Wreck off Xlendi - artefacts, bits and pieces with a story to tell.
2020-10-21 18:00 - 19:30
Lecture by Professor Timmy Gambin, Associate Professor, Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta.
NB: The Archaeological Society Malta is a Collaborating Organization of International Archaeology Day organised by the Archaeological Institute of America. This event will be part of the International Archaeology Day on 17 October.
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CANCELLED: Ceramics and Science: an archaeometric analysis of early Maltese pottery
2020-05-20 18:00 - 19:30 | National Museum of Archaeology, Auberge de Provence, Triq ir-Repubblika, Valletta, Malta
Lecture by Dr Catriona Brogan, Research Fellow from the School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast; Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship, University of Malta.

CANCELLED: Annual General Meeting
2020-05-16 11:00 - 13:30 | Archaeology Centre, Car Park 6, University of Malta, Msida, Malta
Annual General Meeting followed by drinks and a snack.

CANCELLED: A historiography of Maltese Catacomb study: from the sixteenth century to 1899
2020-04-15 18:00 - 19:30 | National Museum of Archaeology, Auberge de Provence, Triq ir-Repubblika, Valletta, Malta
Lecture by Ms Rebecca Xerri, graduate in archaeology, University of Malta.

CANCELLED: The Jebel Moya Project: Pastoralists and Farmers in southern Sudan
2020-03-18 18:00 - 19:30 | National Museum of Archaeology, Auberge de Provence, Triq ir-Repubblika, Valletta, Malta
CANCELLED. Presentation by Dr Isabelle Vella Gregory, affiliate scholar at the McDonald Institute for Archaeology, University of Cambridge, and Dr Michael Brass, co-director of the University College London – University of Khartoum – NCAM Expedition to the Southern Gezira.

Industrial Archaeology: the appraisal and restoration of the historic reinforced concrete Water Tower
2020-02-19 18:00 - 19:30 | Archaeology Centre, Car Park 6, University of Malta, Msida, Malta
Lecture by Prof. Ruben P. Borg, Associate Professor, Faculty for the Built Environment, University of Malta.
The Reinforced Concrete Water Tower in Marsa, Malta was constructed in 1930s to serve the needs of the Public Abattoir and is today considered as unique Industrial Heritage in the Maltese Islands. The water tower is a 15m high structure, consisting of 12 slender columns supporting a shell structure including a 9.5m diameter tank with a domed base. A conservation strategy was proposed and implemented based on innovative technologies respecting the original fabric and structural system efficiency.
Photo: The historic reinforced concrete Water Tower, Marsa
Photo credit: Ruben P. Borg
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Lecture by Dr Michel Bonifay of the Aix-Marseille Université
2020-01-29 18:00 - 19:30 | National Museum of Archaeology, Auberge de Provence, Triq ir-Repubblika, Valletta, Malta
Dr Michel Bonifay, Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Aix-en-Provence will look at the ubiquitous presence throughout the Mediterranean of pottery and amphorae produced in Africa from the 2nd to the 7th century, and will show that they are one source among others to our understanding of Roman port interconnectivity.

Eggstraordinary Objects: ostrich eggs as luxury items in the ancient Mediterranean - POSTPONED TO WEDNESDAY 20 JANUARY 2021
2020-01-15 18:00 - 19:30 | National Museum of Archaeology, Auberge de Provence, Triq ir-Repubblika, Valletta, Malta
Lecture by Dr Tamar Hodos, Reader in Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Bristol.

Year 0 – the Melite Civitas Romana Project
2019-12-11 18:00 - 19:30 | National Museum of Archaeology, Auberge de Provence, Triq ir-Repubblika, Valletta, Malta
Presentation by Mr David Cardona, Senior Curator for Phoenician, Roman and Medieval Sites, Heritage Malta and Mr Robert Brown, Roman Archaeologist, Senior Ancient History Educator.
The study of Maltese Roman archaeology has always been high in the agenda of local and foreign researchers but it remained in the shadow of the more popular prehistoric research.
The remains around the Roman Domus in Mdina are a case in point. Although the importance of the site was immediately recognized upon its discovery, the level of attention and documentation offered to this site is not of the same standard offered to other sites. Zammit’s excavations at the Domus were poorly documented, with only the best artefacts kept for posterity and no record of stratigraphy. This has led to an incomplete interpretation and the impossibility for current archaeologists to challenge or confirm interpretations done almost a hundred years ago. It has become an archaeological cold case.
The Melite Civitas Romana Project has brought together a team of archaeologists and Roman specialists in the interest of gaining a better understanding of the Domus and its place in the broader archaeological environment. The project is a joint collaboration between Heritage Malta, The University of South Florida and an independent research organisation Intercontinental Archaeology.
2019 saw the start of the initial pre-excavation survey season. Dubbed Year Zero, this season saw work carried out in preparation of excavations seasons to come, and focused mainly on geophysical studies and 3D scanning. This presentation introduces the project and discusses the results of the 2019 Year Zero Season. The discussion will also indicate the direction of the project in its first field season in 2020.
Photo Credit: drone view of site (USF Idex)
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Maritime connectivity and cross-cultural interactions between Malta and Sicily during the Late Medieval period
2019-11-20 18:00 - 19:30 | National Museum of Archaeology, Auberge de Provence, Triq ir-Repubblika, Valletta, Malta
Lecture by Dr Keith Buhagiar, Visiting Lecturer in Palaeochristian, Byzantine & Medieval Archaeology, University of Malta.
An excerpt in the 1154 Tabula Rogeriana by Al-Idrisi, published in Palermo, Sicily, mentions the medieval south-eastern Sicilian town of Scicli, its giardini (agricultural estates) engaged in fruit production and maritime links with Calabria, North Africa and Malta. This lecture will present ongoing research and will explore possible High and Late Medieval period cultural, architectural and artistic influences filtering into Malta due to its maritime connectivity with the south-east Sicilian coast. It will also attempt the identification of Scicli’s long lost Norman period harbour of Marsa Sciklah, the location of which has faded from popular memory.
Photo credit: Scicli Photo by Keith Buhagiar
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Construction frenzy or changing ideologies? The case of Tas-Silġ, Marsaxlokk
2019-10-15 18:00 - 20:00 | National Museum of Archaeology, Auberge de Provence, Triq ir-Repubblika, Valletta, Malta
Presentation by Dr Maxine Anastasi (Lecturer, Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta); Dr Ing. John C. Betts (Head of the Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta); and Francesco Fontanelli (Field Archaeologist for Phoenician, Roman and Medieval Sites, Heritage Malta).
Dr Maxine Anastasi and Dr Ing. John C. Betts from the Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, and Mr Francesco Fontanelli, Heritage Malta, will be giving the first results of a new excavation project at the multi-period sanctuary site of Tas-Silġ, Marsaxlokk, arguably one of Malta’s most important archaeological sites. It preserves over four millennia of ancient construction activity, spanning the Late Neolithic period to the Early Modern era. Excavation revealed that the modern farmhouse sat directly on exciting and unexplored archaeological remains, revealing important new insights into the story of Tas-Silġ past.
NB The Archaeological Society Malta is a Collaborating Organization of International Archaeology Day organised by the Archaeological Institute of America. This event will be part of the International Archaeology Day on 19 October.
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Mission Impossible: the archaeology of Lampedusa in three days (episode 2)
2019-05-29 18:00 - 19:30 | National Museum of Archaeology, Auberge de Provence, Triq ir-Repubblika, Valletta, Malta
POSTPONED FROM 22 MAY. Lecture by Prof. Anthony Bonanno, Professor, Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta and Dr Ruben Borg, senior lecturer, Faculty for the Built Environment, University of Malta.
In the first half of the lecture, Prof. Bonanno will take up where he left in his lecture with the same title in 2018. He will give an account of his and Dr Ruben Paul Borg’s visit to Lampedusa in July 2016 on the invitation of Diego Ratti in his indefatigable endeavour to promote the archaeology of his island. The visit consisted of surface inspection of very faint circular markings on the ground suggestive of possible prehistoric huts, as well as a preliminary assessment of claimed ‘prehistoric sculptures’ collected by the same person.
Photo credit: Diego Ratti
http://www.lopadusa.com/
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Mission Impossible: the archaeology of Lampedusa in three days (episode 2) - POSTPONED TO 29 MAY
2019-05-22 18:00 - 19:30 | National Museum of Archaeology, Auberge de Provence, Triq ir-Repubblika, Valletta, Malta
POSTPONED TO 29 MAY. Lecture by Prof. Anthony Bonanno, Professor, Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta and Dr Ruben Borg, senior lecturer, Faculty for the Built Environment, University of Malta.
In the first half of the lecture, Prof. Bonanno will take up where he left in his lecture with the same title in 2018. He will give an account of his and Dr Ruben Paul Borg’s visit to Lampedusa in July 2016 on the invitation of Diego Ratti in his indefatigable endeavour to promote the archaeology of his island. The visit consisted of surface inspection of very faint circular markings on the ground suggestive of possible prehistoric huts, as well as a preliminary assessment of claimed ‘prehistoric sculptures’ collected by the same person.
Photo credit: Diego Ratti
http://www.lopadusa.com/
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Ceramics and Science: an archaeometric analysis of early Maltese pottery - POSTPONED TO 2020
2019-05-15 18:00 - 19:30 | National Museum of Archaeology, Auberge de Provence, Triq ir-Repubblika, Valletta, Malta
Lecture by Dr Catriona Brogan, Research Fellow from the School of Natural and Built Environment- Queen’s University Belfast; Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship, University of Malta.

Site visit to Ras ir-Raħeb and Kunċizzjoni
2019-05-11 14:30 - 20:00 | Bahrija Church, Triq Dun Saverin Bianco, Il-Baħrija, Malta
This will be led by Professor Nicholas Vella, Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, and Dr Keith Buhagiar, Visiting Lecturer in Palaeochristian, Byzantine & Medieval Archaeology, Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta. Meeting at 2:30 on Baħrija Square by the rabbit restaurant.

Annual General Meeting
2019-05-11 11:00 - 13:30 | Archaeology Centre, Car Park 6, University of Malta, Msida, Malta
Annual General Meeting followed by drinks and a snack. An afternoon site visit will follow.

Continuity and Change in regulating the Cultural Heritage Sector – the work of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage
2019-04-17 18:00 - 19:30 | National Museum of Archaeology, Auberge de Provence, Triq ir-Repubblika, Valletta, Malta
Presentation by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage. Mr Joseph Magro Conti is Superintendent of Cultural Heritage and Ms Bernardette Mercieca Spiteri is Cultural Heritage Executive at Superintendence of Cultural Heritage.
The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage was formed as a result of the Cultural Heritage Act 2002 to ensure the protection and accessibility of Malta’s cultural heritage. Since its formation the Superintendence has grown and become more efficient in addressing the challenges which have come about with a growth in the local construction industry. Recent years have also seen an increase in awareness to protect cultural heritage property and a growing interest in research in Maltese heritage both from local initiatives as well from international venues. This presentation revisits the roles of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and describes how it continues to carry out its mission to ensure protection and accessibility of the Malta’s cultural heritage, while creating changes in the way it functions to ensure it is more efficient, and also providing expertise in the different areas of cultural heritage.
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