Lecture: Norwich Castle – POSTPONED to 20/Apr
2023-04-19 18:00 (Europe/Malta)
Lecture by Dr Tim Pestell, Curator of Archaeology, Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery.
Postponed to Thursday 20 April 2022.
The talk will examine this exciting £15m Lottery-funded project, which will re-establish the Norman room-spaces within this iconic building, as well as establish a permanent medieval gallery in association with the British Museum, a new front entrance, café, toilets and roof platform. This once-in-a-century transformation aims to make Norwich Castle the premier heritage attraction of the East of England.
Abstract
Photo: Norwich Castle

Lecture: Norwich Castle: latest developments in The Royal Palace Reborn Project
2023-04-20 18:00
Lecture by Dr Tim Pestell, Curator of Archaeology, Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery.
The talk will examine this exciting £15m Lottery-funded project, which will re-establish the Norman room-spaces within this iconic building, as well as establish a permanent medieval gallery in association with the British Museum, a new front entrance, café, toilets and roof platform. This once-in-a-century transformation aims to make Norwich Castle the premier heritage attraction of the East of England.
Abstract
Photo: Norwich Castle

Lecture: Place names & terms related to frontier terminology from the Arab conquest period, 7th-10th Century: comparative history & archaeology around the Mediterranean and the Maltese Islands
2023-05-16 18:00
Lecture by Fr Eugene P. Teuma OFM Conv., independent researcher.
Recording and interpreting place-names can lead us to discover new and tantalizing facts and realities from a possibly “dark” or little known period. Comparing and contrasting terms/place-names and their original meaning can throw light on a country’s past.
The Arab Conquest from Arabia to Spain and Portugal was a centuries-long advancement. The Arabs were introducing new place-names and adapting them to their “world” view. By marking frontiers (Atarf) with recognizable names they defined territory that lay within or outside their control.
Some names are: Rabat (fort on frontier), Qala (fort), Borg (fortified perimeter/ruin), Dar As-Salam (residence of peace/Islam), Medina (city), Dar ir-Rum (residence of the Greek Orthodox Christians), Dar il-Ħerb (residence of “moral” and “factual” ruin).
We find this progress (military and otherwise) enshrined in place names throughout the conquered territories including the Maltese Archipelago. In most regions only vague or isolated terms survive. Incredibly, the Maltese islands still preserve a vast array of such toponomical terms frozen in time and original context. Deciphering them may make a, presently, murky historical/archaeological picture, comprehensible.
Abstract
Photo: Monastir – Ribat

Lecture: Looking for a US airman in Maltese waters - the excavation of a WWII bomber
2023-10-18 18:30 | Fortress Builders Interpretation Centre, St Mark Street Valletta, Valletta, Malta
Lecture by Professor Timmy Gambin.
In May 1943 the Allies were turning the tide of the war in the Mediterranean and were on the offensive by air, land and sea. During an air raid on southern Italy, an aircraft of the United States Army Air Force crashed off Malta with the loss of one crew member. After many decades, a team from the University of Malta dived the site and subsequently conducted a systematic investigation of the site together with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). This talk tracks the aircraft mission, how she came to crash off Malta and the subsequent identification of the aircraft.

Lecture: Rebuilding the Lost Past
2023-11-15 18:00 - 18:30 | National Museum of Archaeology, Auberge de Provence, Triq ir-Repubblika, Valletta, Malta
A virtual reconstruction of destroyed archaeological sites documented in the 18th and 19th Century
Lecture by Marco Mion.
The reconstruction of the past is arguably one of the main objectives of archaeology. In the past few decades, this task has been facilitated by the introduction of 3D technologies which are capable of conveying archaeological data and interpretations through the use of interactive graphics and imaging. Therefore, when describing what an artefact, a monument or a site looked like in the past, 3D technologies are recognized as an intuitive, efficient and interactive visualization tool. This talk will present and discuss the results of a research conducted in 2022 as part of the author’s dissertation for the M.A. in Archaeological Practice (UoM). This study made use of 3D technologies with the intention of establishing whether a virtual reconstruction of destroyed archaeological sites can be achieved using only available legacy data. The documentation collected for this purpose included textual and drawn sources recorded in the 18th and 19th centuries at the following sites:

an Early Christian hypogeum (Jesuit’s Hill, Marsa – Site A);
a Roman warehouse complex (Jesuit’s Hill, Marsa – Site B);
a set of Punic structural remains (Żurrieq – Site C).

The first two sites were completely destroyed by the industrial development that took place in the Marsa harbour over the past two centuries, while the latter is still partially surviving in situ. This research attempted a 3D and VR interpretative reconstruction of these sites and the outcomes were then analysed by assessing their strengths and limitations. The methodology chosen to reconstruct these sites was then assessed through the reconstruction of Site C. In this case, the interpretative 3D model built through the legacy data was compared and analysed against a reality-based 3D model of the same site built by surveying the standing remains surviving in situ using photogrammetry.
Marco Mion is a Maltese-Italian field archaeologist who recently completed a Master degree in Archaeological Practice with a focus on Digital Archaeology at the University of Malta (UoM). He is currently working as a licensed archaeological monitor in several development-led sites across the Maltese Islands.

Lecture: An encounter with Luigi Ugolini, an archaeologist
2023-12-06 18:00
Lecture by Prof Nicholas C. Vella – University of Malta.
You may download the presentation (PDF, ~40Mb).

Lecture: Bur Mgħeż: biography of a lost Neolithic site
2024-01-24 18:00 | Hotel Excelsior, Floriana, Malta
Lecture by Dr Omar N’Shea – International School for Foundation Studies, University of Malta.
Abstract: In 1911, during research conducted at a quarry in Imqabba known as Tan-Naxxari, Professor Napoleon Tagliaferro discovered a fissure in the limestone rock, which contained the buried remains of multiple individuals along with funerary paraphernalia. Based on the analysis of pottery fragments and other remnants, Tagliaferro determined that the fissure was used during the same period as the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum and served as a collective burial site in the vicinity of id-Debdieba, a site now in the vicinity of the Hal-Farrug road. He named the site the Cave of Bur Mgħeż and soon, studies began to better understand the mortuary culture of the Neolithic communities in the Maltese islands. The Cave of Bur Mgħeż, along with Tagliaferro’s writings on it, quickly attracted the attention of both Temi Zammit and the Antiquities Committee. Around 1920, efforts commenced to purchase the land containing the cave from the Mensa Vescovile by the Government, allowing the cessation of quarrying activities at the site and its protection. However, today, the site is lost and can only be found in the National Archives of Malta, in some reports of the museum director and curators, and in material remnants scattered in various museums. In this talk, the site itself and the discoveries made there, how it was excavated and studied, what is known about it today, and how its memory can be preserved are discussed.
You may download the presentation (PDF, ~7Mb).

Rediscovering Roman Malta
2024-02-21 18:00 | Hotel Excelsior, Floriana, Malta
Lecture by Mr David Cardona – Senior Manager, Professional Services and Phoenician, Roman and Medieval Sites, Heritage Malta.
Rediscovering Roman Malta
Field report 2023 from the Melite Civitas Romana Project at the Domvs Romana of Rabat
Co-contributors: Dr Davide Tanasi(1), Dr Benedict Lowe(2), Robert Brown(3), Andrew Wilkinson(4)
1 Institute for Digital Exploration (IDEx), University of South Florida
2 Heritage Malta, Malta
3 Department of History, University of North Alabama
4 Intercontinental Archaeology, Australia
In 218 BCE Malta officially enters Roman history after six centuries of absolute Phoenicio-Punic occupation. At the outbreak of the Second Punic War, consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus secures the obedience of the inhabitants of the island. It is in the late Republican period that in the major city of Melite (modern Rabat), the most emblematic example of Romanitas emerges, exemplified by the construction of the so-called Domvs Romana; a luxuriously decorated mansion likely connected with the Roman representatives in charge. The complex and hectic urban development of Melite-Rabat from the post-classical to the contemporary period obliterated or, at best, covered the ruins of the Roman city. Its early phases are essentially represented by the Domvs Romana and its immediate environs which have been subject to isolated investigations and have resulted in few limited contexts. The importance of the Domvs has become critical for evaluating the impact of Roman culture in the formative period of the newly annexed territory. Since 2019, the Domvs has been at the center of the international collaborative project Melite Civitas Romana, which is reassessing all the evidence related to the site using modern technologies and conducting new archaeological excavations. The 2023 campaign continued excavation in the four areas around the Domvs complex, identified by geophysical prospection and the preliminary investigations of 2019 and 2022. The fieldwork has shed new light on the excavations carried out by Themistocles Zammit in 1920-1925 and has provided new preliminary data on the spatial configuration of the urban fabric of the district of Melite, where the Domvs was located, and on the post-classical occupation of this area. The examination of baulks and stratigraphic sections from Zammit’s time, and the discovery of new imposing structures alongside new and untouched contexts has for the first time offered a new perspective on the Roman and Late Roman history of Melite.

An archaeological perspective of the Magistral Palace. Preliminary results of the archaeological investigations.
2024-03-20 18:00 | Hotel Excelsior, Floriana, Malta
Lecture by Mr Christian Mifsud – Curator for Historic Buildings, Heritage Malta.
An archaeological perspective of the Magistral Palace.
Preliminary results of the archaeological investigations.
As part of the ongoing seven-year restoration project being undertaken by Heritage Malta, the agency seized the opportunity to thoroughly investigate the Grand Masters’ Palace’s history and its development. Starting as two separate units, (Palazzo del Monte and the first Auberge of Italy) from 1571 onwards, the Magistral Palace was extended and modified by subsequent Grandmasters, Governors, and later Presidents to make it fit for governing and diplomatic purposes. Unlike no other secular building, the palace has retained its intended original function as the palace of power, hence resulting in less invasive structural interventions through time. As such the palace is a well-preserved specimen of diverse architectural styles from the 16th century onwards. The complex stratification as well as the sometimes unclear archival sources, have left many inconclusive hypothetical narratives on its transformation. The archaeological investigations being carried out within the palace are the first of their kind and extent on this complex. This work provides a surgical insight into the hidden stratifications and reveals new information and previously unknown interventions, leading to a new interpretation of the palace. Through this lecture, the preliminary results of this research will be discussed, providing some insights about several of the spaces within the palace that were intervened upon during the project. .

Towards an Archaeology of Privacy
2024-04-17 18:00 | Hotel Excelsior, Floriana, Malta
Lecture by Professor Joseph Cannataci – Head of the Department of Information Policy & Governance, University of Malta.
Towards an Archaeology of Privacy.
A decade ago (2013), Smith and Reynolds lamented that “the archaeology of law, legal culture, and legal practice has been almost entirely overlooked”. Yet, more than three decades ago, teams led from the University of Malta, and later jointly with the University of Groningen, commenced fieldwork on one of the values protected in fundamental human rights law: privacy. This in turn led to the formulation of research questions like: What were attitudes to privacy like across the Phoenician and Carthaginian trade routes? Did they change (where, when, how and why) as the Mediterranean transitioned into first the Greek and later the Roman classical eras? What may have changed in privacy-relevant behaviour and regulation on the northern and southern sides of the Mediterranean between the 5th and 15th centuries? What about the interplay between archaeology, architecture, anthropology, economics, technology and privacy? How have these dimensions impacted the evolution of privacy since the 16th century? How does research on the ethnoarchaeology and anthropology of privacy in Africa, America and Asia complement, contradict or corroborate the available evidence from inside Europe?
This talk explores the themes outlined above with particular reference to the importance of archaeological evidence from the first millennia B.C.E. and A.C.E. as found within the Mediterranean littoral. First outlining some context provided by our teams’ fieldwork in Asia, Australia, Africa and Europe, the talk will then move to the archaeological evidence available from domestic architecture in Punic sites, especially Kerkouane in modern-day Tunisia. Drawing upon initial findings from the PRIVATUS project and using some of the most recently published research from peninsular Italy to carry out comparative analysis in North African Roman sites, the talk will summarily trace the development of public and private spaces in Roman urban architecture with a particular emphasis on sanitation engineering, whilst also touching upon the role of the cubiculum as a private space in the Roman domus.
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Archaeology of earthen architecture in the western Mediterranean, with particular regard to southern France
2024-05-15 18:00 | Hotel Excelsior, Floriana, Malta
Lecture by Dr Alessandro Peinetti – Dipartimento di Storia Culture Civiltà, Università di Bologna.
Contributors: Alessandro Peinetti (Inrap, Auvergne – Rhône-Alpes, France; UMR 5140 ASM ; Università di Bologna); Emilie Leal (Inrap, Midi-Méditerranée; UMR 5140 ASM); Julia Wattez (Inrap, Centre – Ile-de-France ; UMR 5140 ASM)
Archaeology of earthen architecture in the western Mediterranean, with particular regard to southern France: field detection, chaîne opératoire characterization and socio-cultural perspectives
A Raw earth has been widely used since Neolithic times, and is still the most widely used building material in the world today. It is estimated that a third of humanity lives in an earthen dwelling. Earthen architecture, whether simple or monumental, can be found in a variety of contexts and meets a wide range of needs. Raw earth is also a material widely used in European vernacular architecture in its various forms: mudbrick, cut out sod, rammed earth, cob, wattle and daub, floors construction and furniture shaping. Although obscured in today’s urban and rural landscape, earth materials have always been used for architectural purposes, sometimes in association with other materials (wood, stone), both in continental and northern Europe and around the Mediterranean.
In the early 1980s, a keen interest in building with raw earth developed in France as part of archaeological research, in parallel with the rise of an architectural movement that wanted to promote building processes based on this material, which also had an ecological and social dimension (see, for example, the work of CRATERRE).
In archaeology, excavations carried out at the Iron Age site of Lattara (Lattes, Hérault) in the 1980s and 1990s led to the identification of mudbrick and cob architectures. These discoveries made a major contribution to boosting research into earthen architecture in southern France and raising awareness among a whole generation of researchers about the identification and technological characterisation of this type of architecture. The end of the twentieth century and the 2000s marked a new turning point in research, particularly in the field of preventive archaeology at Inrap (Institut national d’archéologie preventive). This research led to the discovery of earthen buildings from the Neolithic period in Languedoc and Provence, as well as 13th and 14th century houses built entirely of raw earth, many of which are still standing today (fig. 2). Later, preventive archaeology excavations have also identified the use of earthen materials in the layout of burial spaces from the Neolithic to the Iron Age, showing how the use of these materials goes beyond the simple domestic sphere. It is now a proven fact that raw earth is used in every field of construction: military (ramparts), all kind of private or economic dwellings (warehouse, wine cellars …) or funeral field. The example of the preventive excavation of the Late Neolithic semi-grounded architecture of the collective burial of Mas Rouge (Montpellier, Hérault) is exemplary in this respect (main image). Researches into the use of raw earth in Roman times are also currently under development and deeply renews our vision of the ancient city where obviously raw earth constructions are the main part of the domestic architecture.
Fig 2: Lézignan-Corbières (Aude, France): example of a 13th-14th century AD cob-built house still standing (credits E. Leal).
Over the last twenty-five years, the organisation of a series of round-tables dedicated to transdisciplinary researches on raw earth constructions (Échanges transdisciplinaires sur les constructions en terre crue) has made it possible to establish the terminology used in architectural and technological analysis, as well as to raise issues relating to the development of the constructive cultures of earthen architecture.
Research carried out on archaeological sites in temperate, mediterranean or tropical climates has highlighted the difficulties of identifying and technologically characterising these architectures. These problems arise as early as the fieldwork phase. Effectively, earthen architectures are often heavily levelled or buried under rubbles, resulting from its deterioration and demolition, causing identification problems that can be solved thanks to the use of suitable excavation protocols and an accurate knowledge of the principles of raw construction.
The way in which these architectural remains are viewed has evolved, leading to the integration of architectural analysis with geoarchaeological studies using micromorphology as a tool for characterising materials and their manufacturing and installation processes. All this work, highlighting the archaeological potential of such areas, has gone beyond the boundaries of French archaeology and has had an impact, to varying degrees, on the development of research into raw earth in the Western Mediterranean.
It is clear that the identification of a particular construction technique is not an end in itself. Understanding the potential for adaptation within a single technology, the place of this material next to stone or wood and which economic system (from material supply to recycling) it fits into, helps to define the socio-economic and cultural characteristics of particular human groups or territory. It turns out that not all earth-based construction techniques were invented or used everywhere. Although some are indeed “universal”, others were developed in specific places. They were then transmitted and spread through the movement of populations or craftsmen and through voluntary or forced borrowing. These processes have either endured or been abandoned in the course of history.
Research into earthen architecture is therefore central to the study of the development of local building cultures and their development, from the Neolithic to the present day, in the western Mediterranean basin and neighbouring areas.

Main image: Mas Rouge (Monpellier, Hérault, France): detail of the burial layers with raw earth elements of the Late Neolithic collective burial of Mas Rouge (credits Y. Tchéremissinoff).

Dun Ġwann Farrugia and two ‘young assistants’: reassessing the legacy of amateur archaeology
2024-10-16 18:00 | Hotel Excelsior, Floriana, Malta
Lecture by Dr Anton Bugeja
In the late 1940s, three men set out on an ambitious quest to explore and document all the archaeological sites of the Maltese Islands. Although their ultimate goal proved unattainable, their journey left an indelible mark on the archaeological record. Together, they uncovered 17 prehistoric sites, authored more than 40 newspaper articles, and amassed over 400 photographs, offering a unique and invaluable perspective on Malta’s ancient heritage.
This lecture will provide a brief biographical overview of these amateur archaeologists and outline some of their thoughts and ideas. Focusing on stories of archaeological loss and recovery, the presentation will highlight a select number of the sites they documented, showcasing what is now regarded as one of the most significant mid-twentieth century photographic collections of ‘minor’ Maltese archaeological sites.
Photographs: Heritage Malta

Archaeology at the Malta Pavilion, British Empire Exhibition, 1924
2024-11-20 18:00 | Hotel Excelsior, Floriana, Malta
Lecture by Prof. Reuben Grima
The British Empire Exhibition held at Wembley in 1924 and 1925 drew a larger audience than any other mega-event in Britain until that time.
Malta’s participation in 1924 came at a formative moment in its political history. The granting of self-government in 1921 had given new impetus to Malta’s aspirations for greater self-determination and for a distinct national identity. It also coincided with an intensive period of archaeological excavation and discovery, led largely by the indefatigable Themistocles Zammit. Archaeology, and more particularly, prehistory, inevitably became caught up in debates about Maltese race, identity, and political destiny.
The Malta Pavilion at Wembley was closely shaped by all of these forces. It made use of Malta’s history and archaeology to give form to new ways of thinking about Maltese identity. The extensive references that the pavilion made to the period of the Knights of Saint John are well known. What is not well known is that the pavilion also made systematic use of prehistoric remains in the design of its interior. The decisions that led to this design will be traced. It will be argued that Malta’s recently discovered Neolithic culture lent itself to the creation of new narratives of a distinct Maltese race, and that the Malta Pavilion at Wembley summed up a new and powerful narrative of Maltese identity, profoundly shaped by the work of Zammit and his co-workers, and by the prevailing political context. Although the use of archaeology in the pavilion has been largely forgotten, some of the myths about Maltese race and identity that were invented around the same period still persist today.

Catacomb rediscoveries in Malta and Italy: an overview
2024-12-18 18:00 | Hotel Excelsior, Floriana, Malta
Lecture by Dr Chiara Cecalupo
The presence of large underground Christian cemeteries in various places in the Mediterranean has attracted the attention of many scholars, travellers, curious people and researchers for many centuries, from the modern age until today. The catacomb complexes of the central Mediterranean (i.e. Italy, Malta and North Africa) present archaeological and architectural features of great interest, with common elements as much as singular regional peculiarities.
Regardless of the specific archaeological features, however, the rediscovery and investigation of catacombs in Italy and Malta has always been strongly linked since its inception in the mid-17th century. The incredible interconnection between the rediscovery phenomena underlies a rich common literary, scientific and graphic production that has been little studied as a unitary phenomenon, and that instead presents rich insights from a historiographical and cultural point of view.
The talk will then explore some of this historiographic heritage through archival documents, rare books, old catacomb plans and image, in order to present some of the most interesting results of this human and cultural connections between Malta and Italy.

Understanding ancient inscriptions: the case of CIS I, 123, CIS I,123 bis, and the Tal-Virtù Papyrus
2025-01-15 18:00 | Hotel Excelsior, Floriana, Malta
Lecture by Prof. Anthony J. Frendo
In attempting to understand the three Phoenician inscriptions from Malta selected for this talk, it will be shown that a whole array of principles of interpretation are at work in the head of scholars trying to come to grips with these inscriptions – whether they are aware of them or not. We have to be conscious of such principles in order to understand texts properly. In inscriptions without word division, punctuation, or vowels (such as is the case with Phoenician), context plays a crucial role. Indeed, out of multiple possible philological solutions for CIS I, 123 the one buttressed by the archaeological context is clearly the most plausible one. The use of continual script did not pose a problem for the ancients, seeing that modern research has shown that language is not built on a division between words but on two-second spurts of sounds with pauses in between.

Reconstructing the Neanderthal diet: Recent advances in Archaeological Research
2025-02-19 18:00 | Hotel Excelsior, Floriana, Malta
Lecture by Dr. Mario Mata-González
Since the discovery of the first Neanderthal fossils, especially during the second half of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century, Neanderthals were conceptualized as brutish and unintelligent creatures. Nevertheless, our understanding of what being Neanderthal means has shifted radically during the last four decades, and archaeological and paleoanthropological researchers have demonstrated over and over again that Neanderthals were successful, highly adaptable, and innovative humans. We now know that they spread across a vast territory, from the Atlantic coasts of Europe to the Altai Mountains in east-Central Asia, and they existed between ca. 400–35 kya.
The reconstruction of diet (food that is consumed) and subsistence strategies (how food is procured, processed, consumed, discarded, etc.) represent key aspects to better understand how Neanderthals adapted to different environments and faced ecological constraints. Using Neandertals as case studies, during my talk I will present a review of numerous archaeological subfields and scientific methods that allow us to reconstruct hominin diets and subsistence strategies, including zooarchaeology, archaeobotanical, stable isotopes, dental microwear, and dental calculus. By doing so, I aim to illustrate the potential of using Archaeological Sciences to study past hominin behavior in new ways that may have seemed unimaginable a few decades ago.

Smashing Old Ideas: New approaches to Late Neolithic pottery from the Maltese Islands
2025-03-12 18:00 | Hotel Excelsior, Floriana, Malta
Lecture by Dr Isabelle Vella Gregory
How should we approach a period dominated by megaliths and rigid typologies? Can we learn more from prehistoric pottery? Understanding humanity requires multiple approaches. This talk will focus on pottery, starting with decoration techniques and the tools used. Pottery typologies, while seemingly neutral, have a complex history that includes some of archaeology’s less pleasant aspects. Rigid typologies constrain inquiry by imposing classifications that overlook the dynamic lives of pottery makers and users. This oversimplification reduces cultural identity to single groups, often seen as passive recipients of foreign influences, as evident in certain views of the Neolithic Maltese Islands. How did people use their bodies to make and decorate pots? This shifts the focus to the potters, revealing a community of practice where shared techniques and knowledge reflect social structures and interactions. Ceramic composition analysis provides deeper insights into the materials and methods used in pottery production. By examining the “recipes” for making pots and the various firing techniques, we can understand technological choices and innovations. Ultimately, this approach brings us closer to understanding one of the most complex and fascinating prehistoric societies in the ancient Mediterranean.

New insights on tomb architecture and burial in Phoenician to Late Antique Malta
2025-04-16 18:00 | Hotel Excelsior, Floriana, Malta
Lecture by Dr David Cardona Bionote
Recent studies on the funerary landscape of the area around the ancient town of Melite have provided various insights on the connection between zones reserved for the living and those reserved for the dead. This included information on what the two could tell us about the other. Consequently, this research also provided a deep insight on the multiple tomb and burial typologies within the area of study. This presentation will primarily focus on the data and analysis of this last part. It will thus look at past interpretations and ideas about tomb typologies between the Phoenician and Late Antique periods, comparing old and new proposals on the changes in tomb and burial architecture.
David Cardona is an archaeologist with a very broad range of interests. He has interest in the archaeology of architecture and ancient technologies and, more recently, landscape and burial archaeology. He has researched the use of stone within buildings on the Maltese Islands the Prehistoric period in fulfilment of his Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology, while his MA thesis dealt with the architectural decoration of Roman buildings on Malta and Gozo. This culminated in his book “Roman Architecture in Malta”. His doctoral degree from the University of Leicester, called “Landscapes of Death and Commemoration: burial space, place and evolution from Phoenician to late Roman Malta” combined various forms of spatial data onto a GIS platform to analyse landscape use, connections and transformations. He currently holds the position of Senior Manager for the Archaeological Research Unit and Senior Curator for Phoenician, Roman and Medieval sites within Heritage Malta.

Tyre and the first Phoenician diaspora in the Mediterranean
2025-05-14 18:00 | Hotel Excelsior, Floriana, Malta
Lecture by Dr Francisco J. Núñez
The interpretation of eastern materials found in overseas contexts has long been shaped by ancient textual sources, often resulting in debate over the nature, aims, and chronology of the Levantine diaspora in the Mediterranean. This lecture addresses the issue through three interconnected parts.
First, it reviews the early evidence—both textual and material—primarily comprising quasi-mythological accounts and poorly contextualized artefacts. The second part focuses on ceramic data from key sites across the Mediterranean: Kition (Cyprus), Kommos (Crete), Sant’Imbenia (Sardinia), and La Rebanadilla and Huelva (Iberian Peninsula), outlining the ceramic landscape of the diaspora’s earliest phases.
The third part compares these materials with the Levantine ceramic sequence, focusing on Tyre and Megiddo to assess links with local productions, establish absolute chronology, and contextualize the phenomenon historically.
Findings suggest that the first Phoenician diaspora began no earlier than the mid-9th century BCE, coinciding with political realignments in the Levant and the emergence of coastal cities as economic actors within expanding Mediterranean trade networks.

Shifting Sands, Changing Narratives: Climate Change and Human Prehistory in Arabia
2025-10-15 18:00
Lecture by Dr Huw Groucutt
The Arabian Peninsula covers over three million square kilometres at the interface between Africa and Asia. Traditionally it was believed that Arabia had a sparse prehistory, and had been an unchanging desert. Recent research, however, reveals a highly dynamic climate history in the region, with alternating wet and dry periods. Likewise, archaeological research is uncovering a rich prehistoric record. In this talk the author will outline recent and ongoing research. From exploring hyena dens full of rotting bones, deep underground in lava tubes, to studying the remains of ancient lakes and associated hippo fossils and stone tools, these findings transform how we think about Arabian prehistory. The talk will also consider the parallels and differences between ‘desert archaeology’ and ‘island archaeology’, and how different schools and approaches can benefit others.
Photo: The Nefud Desert, Prof. E. Scerri

Conquering the Sea: A Story of Ambition, Boulders, and Ashlar Blocks from Amathous, Cyprus
2025-11-19 18:00 | Hotel Excelsior, Floriana, Malta
Lecture by Dr Judith Gatt
Conquering the sea was not only achieved through navigation but also through the development of expertise in constructing stable, long-lasting structures in a marine environment, such as harbour structures. This lecture examines the monumental Hellenistic harbour structure on the southern side of the Amathous harbour basin, now lying at a depth of -4 m below present sea level. Drawing on evidence from the 1980s excavation, the ANDIKAT programme, and a 2022 survey at Amathous, this study proposes a working hypothesis for the construction technique and construction process of the monumental south composite breakwater. The hypothesis is grounded in principles of both modern and ancient harbour engineering as well as archaeological data, an approach not yet extensively applied in harbour archaeology. This research not only deepens our understanding of ancient harbour construction techniques in Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean but also contributes to the wider history of harbour engineering in antiquity.
Photo: Aerial view of the submerged Hellenistic harbour of Amathous, C. Christou

Francesco Laparelli: Valletta's Civil Architect Unmasked
2025-12-12 18:30 | Inquisitor’s Palace, Inquisitor's Palace, Birgu, Malta
Lecture by Dr Christian Mifsud
The Prof. Godfrey Wettinger Memorial Lecture: Francesco Laparelli occupies a central place in the story of Valletta’s origins, yet his contribution has long been framed in narrow terms. Dr. Christian Mifsud re-examines Laparelli’s role beyond that of a military engineer, highlighting the broader architectural vision he brought to the city’s earliest planning phase. For centuries, historical narratives have emphasised Girolamo Cassar as the primary designer of Valletta’s early high-status buildings. This lecture re-opens that conversation, inviting a reassessment of authorship, collaboration, and the shaping of Malta’s early modern urban landscape.

What’s up at the Domvs Romana? – An update of the 2025 MCRP excavation season
2026-01-21 18:00 | Hotel Excelsior, Floriana, Malta
This event is being presented in collaboration with Heritage Malta.
Lecture by Dr David Cardona
Presenting on behalf of collaborators: Prof. Davide Tanasi, Dr Benedict Lowe, Andrew Wilkinson, Robert Brown.
The 2025 season of the Melite Civitas Romana Project, though limited in duration, yielded discoveries that challenge established narratives and open new avenues for research. This lecture will synthesize the season’s most significant findings across all excavation zones, with particular attention to contexts that produced exceptional material evidence. These results not only refine our understanding of Melite’s urban fabric during the Roman period but also illuminate its diachronic transformations. Crucially, we will interrogate whether current work represents a mere re-examination of earlier excavations or whether it signals a paradigm shift—one that leverages overlooked datasets and emerging methodologies to reconstruct a more nuanced picture of Roman and post-Roman Malta. By situating these findings within broader debates on urbanism and cultural continuity, this presentation aims to demonstrate the project’s potential to redefine regional archaeological frameworks.

Hard Hats to High-Tech: Mapping over 60 Years of Work on the Xlendi Tower Wrecks
2026-02-18 18:00 | Hotel Excelsior, Floriana, Malta
Lecture by Prof Timmy Gambin
The Tower Wrecks, located off the coast of Xlendi, Gozo, serve as unique chronological markers for the evolution of underwater archaeology. Situated at a depth of 110 meters, the deep site remained largely inaccessible during its initial discovery in the late 1950s, when exploration was limited by the rudimentary diving technology.
This presentation traces a trajectory of over 60 years of research, documenting the transition from early object recoveries to systematic, high-tech scientific inquiries. We examine the integration of modern technical diving as well as robotics such as the deployment of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs). The combination of these assets together with other technologies are revolutionizing our understanding of this multi-period archaeological deposit.
By comparing early manual survey methods with contemporary 3D photogrammetry and remote sensing, we highlight how these technological advancements allowed for the creation of the world’s first deep-water archaeological park. The lecture concludes by reflecting on how sixty years of methodical progress transformed a dispersed scatter of amphorae into a protected heritage site of global importance, setting a new standard for the management of deep-sea underwater cultural heritage.

Blick Mead: Exploring the first place in the Stonehenge Project
2026-03-18 18:00 | Hotel Excelsior, Floriana, Malta
Lecture by David Jacques
The Stonehenge landscape is one of the most famous prehistoric places in the world, but much about its origins remains a mystery and little attention has been paid to what preceded, and may have influenced, its later ritual character. The discovery of a uniquely long-lived Mesolithic site at Blick Mead, c. 2.5km from Stonehenge, is set to transform the situation. Blick Mead, the oldest occupation site in the Stonehenge area, was the likely place where the communities who built the first monuments at Stonehenge lived. The discoveries made there in recent years have contributed significantly to a new understanding of the initial settlement patterns and practices in the Stonehenge landscape. This talk will chart the story of the excavations and their significance.

Clay kiln firing at Borġ in-Nadur: Experimental Archaeology Project Phase 1
2026-04-22 18:00 | Hotel Excelsior, Floriana, Malta
Lecture by Dr John C. Betts & Ms Katya Stroud
In the absence of direct archaeological evidence for kilns in prehistoric Malta, an experimental approach provides the opportunity for the replication of prehistoric firing techniques and the comparative analysis of locally recovered ceramics with known kiln structures from the corresponding chronological period.
This project, a collaboration between the Department of Classics and Archaeology of the University of Malta, and the Prehistoric Sites (South) Department within Heritage Malta as well as the additional experience and knowledge of freelance archaeologists and colleagues at Savio College, employed experimental archaeology to deepen our understanding of Maltese prehistoric pottery production. This was carried out through the systematic reconstruction of a prehistoric kiln and the testing of ancient ceramic technologies through hands-on experiments. This research was undertaken with the aims of providing: A comparison between experimental replicas and original Prehistoric and Classical pottery, an understanding of what kiln reconstructions reveal about ancient firing techniques and additional insights into how prehistoric pots were made, decorated, and fired.

The Many Lives of Ancient Objects: A Biographical Approach to the Metamorphosis of Antiquities in Early Modern Malta
2026-05-20 18:00 - 18:30 | Hotel Excelsior, Floriana, Malta
Lecture by Dr Jonathon Borg
This lecture explores the processes by which antiquities in the Maltese Islands were transformed into historic monuments between the sixteenth and early twentieth centuries. Adopting an object biography approach, this study traces the afterlives of typologically diverse antiquities from their discovery through successive reinterpretations. Because such changes were often gradual, the study employs a broad temporal perspective to provide a clearer narrative of how and why certain objects were valued and monumentalized while others were overlooked. This research examines the behavioural patterns and human actions that collectively illuminate how antiquities were reimagined as historic monuments.

Malta’s Ancient Cart Ruts: Their age, formation, and context
2026-05-20 18:30 - 19:00 | Hotel Excelsior, Floriana, Malta
Lecture by Mr Joel Grima
The origin of the Maltese cart ruts has been debated for nearly four centuries. Contemporary archaeological opinion remains divided, broadly interpreting them as either cut to guide wheeled Punic and Roman carts, or worn by the repeated passage of late prehistoric vehicles. This research employs scientific and statistical techniques to address their enigmatic age, formation, and use. In addition to the suite of radiometric dating techniques and spatial-statistical analyses, the study is underpinned by the largest dataset of Maltese cart rut sites compiled so far. This comprises data from 222 sites, including 145 high-resolution 3D models which enable accurate, consistent digitisation and morphometric analysis of cart ruts across Malta and Gozo.
