McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research eBooks, Oct 1, 2020
0.1. Introduction 0.2. Background to FRAGSUS as an archaeological project 0.3. Environmental rese... more 0.1. Introduction 0.2. Background to FRAGSUS as an archaeological project 0.3. Environmental research in Malta and the Mediterranean 0.4. The development of the FRAGSUS Project and its questions 0.5. Archaeological concerns in Maltese prehistory and the FRAGSUS Project 0.6. The research programme: the sites and their selection 0.7. Investigating the palaeoenvironmental context 0.8. Archaeological investigations Part I The interaction between the natural and cultural landscape-insights into the 17 fifth-second millennia bc Chapter 1 The geology, soils and present-day environment of Gozo and Malta 19
0.1. Introduction 0.2. Background to FRAGSUS as an archaeological project 0.3. Environmental rese... more 0.1. Introduction 0.2. Background to FRAGSUS as an archaeological project 0.3. Environmental research in Malta and the Mediterranean 0.4. The development of the FRAGSUS Project and its questions 0.5. Archaeological concerns in Maltese prehistory and the FRAGSUS Project 0.6. The research programme: the sites and their selection 0.7. Investigating the palaeoenvironmental context 0.8. Archaeological investigations Part I The interaction between the natural and cultural landscape-insights into the 17 fifth-second millennia bc Chapter 1 The geology, soils and present-day environment of Gozo and Malta 19
The Lower Moulouya Basin in northeast Morocco is characterised by Mediterranean arid to semiarid ... more The Lower Moulouya Basin in northeast Morocco is characterised by Mediterranean arid to semiarid environmental conditions of a North African desert margin. In geomorphological research, desert margins reveal a high potential for palaeoenvironmental studies, as they react very sensitive to past and future climatic changes. The alluvial deposits of the Lower Moulouya can be divided in three sedimentation series: the Series I is dated between 9.9 and 6.5 ka cal. BP and shows silty to sandy layers with hydromorphic features and intercalated initial alluvial soils. The Series II is dated between 4.2 and 3.2 ka cal. BP and indicates clayey to silty fine laminae with hydromorphic features and an onset of charcoal-rich layers. The Series III is dated between 3.2 and 1.4 ka cal. BP and features clayey to silty fine laminae with greyish to reddish colouring. Series III reveals charcoal-rich layers and gypsum crystals in clay-rich reddish sediments. The dating of the archaeological findings (silex, ceramics, bones) of the buried open air sites indicate an human occupation at the Lower Moulouya during the Epipalaeolithics, Neolithics, Protohistoric and Middle Ages. The phases correspond chronologically with already known archaeological archives from eastern Rif rock-shelters and caves. The maximum of archaeological findings at the Lower Moulouya corresponds to the Early Neolithics, a period which comes along with the Mid-Holocene climatic optimum.
On 19th November 2001, while two of us (DB, NJC) were preparing a drawn record of the Punic tomb ... more On 19th November 2001, while two of us (DB, NJC) were preparing a drawn record of the Punic tomb that is situated on Bajda Ridge, Xemxija, a small ceramic bowl (100211) was uncovered from below a few centimetres of soil that covered the inner part of the threshold to the rock-cut chamber (Fig. 1). An official from the Museums Department was informed of the discovery on the same day and a site inspection was carried out. It was realised that more artefacts could lie undisturbed within the chamber and a decision was taken to excavate the deposit. Authorisation for the Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, to undertake the excavation was received from the Director, Museums Department, and the excavation was completed on the 22nd November. The tomb is located on the ridge, near a path that diverges eastwards from the track that links Pwales valley to the Mistra valley. It is cut in the Upper Coralline limestone that outcrops in the area on a North-South axis and c...
Becker's 1913 publication Malta Sotterranea, Studien zur altchristlichen und jiidischen Sepul... more Becker's 1913 publication Malta Sotterranea, Studien zur altchristlichen und jiidischen Sepulkralkunst- studies of Malta's early Christian and Jewish sepulchral art- is a work often quoted and sometimes even copied by authors writing on Malta's catacombs and Late Antiquity. Its value was recognised by many scholars, but to date very few have managed to fully grasp and understand it. Certainly, one does not need to understand much German to realise that his study was exceptionally thorough and methodical. But one needs to master German and German grammar perfectly in order to follow his line of reasoning - which is why many remarkable conclusions and discoveries in Malta Sotterranea were at best ignored, or at worst wrongly quoted or totally misunderstood. Ironically, it is thanks to the latter that his book never slipped into oblivion.peer-reviewe
0.1. Introduction 0.2. Background to FRAGSUS as an archaeological project 0.3. Environmental rese... more 0.1. Introduction 0.2. Background to FRAGSUS as an archaeological project 0.3. Environmental research in Malta and the Mediterranean 0.4. The development of the FRAGSUS Project and its questions 0.5. Archaeological concerns in Maltese prehistory and the FRAGSUS Project 0.6. The research programme: the sites and their selection 0.7. Investigating the palaeoenvironmental context 0.8. Archaeological investigations Part I The interaction between the natural and cultural landscape-insights into the 17 fifth-second millennia bc Chapter 1 The geology, soils and present-day environment of Gozo and Malta 19
The small size and relatively challenging environmental conditions of the semi-isolated Maltese a... more The small size and relatively challenging environmental conditions of the semi-isolated Maltese archipelago mean that the area offers an important case study of societal change and human-environment interactions. Following an initial phase of Neolithic settlement, the “Temple Period” in Malta began ∼5.8 thousand years ago (ka), and came to a seemingly abrupt end ∼4.3 ka, and was followed by Bronze Age societies with radically different material culture. Various ideas concerning the reasons for the end of the Temple Period have been expressed. These range from climate change, to invasion, to social conflict resulting from the development of a powerful “priesthood.” Here, we explore the idea that the end of the Temple Period relates to the 4.2 ka event. The 4.2 ka event has been linked with several examples of significant societal change around the Mediterranean, such as the end of the Old Kingdom in Egypt, yet its character and relevance have been debated. The Maltese example offers ...
A legacy of antiquarian and archaeological explorations in the Maltese archipelago has long been ... more A legacy of antiquarian and archaeological explorations in the Maltese archipelago has long been identified with the rock-cut tombs and associated funerary remains of the Phoenician and Punic periods. By contrast, little is known about the islands’ countryside in antiquity. Recent excavations at the site of a long-lived Roman villa complex in Żejtun (Malta) have begun to throw light on the rural world of the archipelago, unravelling the nature of the transition between the Punic and Roman periods where continuity rather than rupture implied by the phases of culture history is becoming clearer.
0.1. Introduction 0.2. Background to FRAGSUS as an archaeological project 0.3. Environmental rese... more 0.1. Introduction 0.2. Background to FRAGSUS as an archaeological project 0.3. Environmental research in Malta and the Mediterranean 0.4. The development of the FRAGSUS Project and its questions 0.5. Archaeological concerns in Maltese prehistory and the FRAGSUS Project 0.6. The research programme: the sites and their selection 0.7. Investigating the palaeoenvironmental context 0.8. Archaeological investigations Part I The interaction between the natural and cultural landscape-insights into the 17 fifth-second millennia bc Chapter 1 The geology, soils and present-day environment of Gozo and Malta 19
A legacy of antiquarian and archaeological explorations in the Maltese archipelago has long been ... more A legacy of antiquarian and archaeological explorations in the Maltese archipelago has long been identified with the rock-cut tombs and associated funerary remains of the Phoenician and Punic periods. By contrast, little is known about the islands’ countryside in antiquity. Recent excavations at the site of a long-lived Roman villa complex in Żejtun (Malta) have begun to throw light on the rural world of the archipelago, unravelling the nature of the transition between the Punic and Roman periods where continuity rather than rupture implied by the phases of culture history is becoming clearer.
McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research eBooks, Oct 1, 2020
0.1. Introduction 0.2. Background to FRAGSUS as an archaeological project 0.3. Environmental rese... more 0.1. Introduction 0.2. Background to FRAGSUS as an archaeological project 0.3. Environmental research in Malta and the Mediterranean 0.4. The development of the FRAGSUS Project and its questions 0.5. Archaeological concerns in Maltese prehistory and the FRAGSUS Project 0.6. The research programme: the sites and their selection 0.7. Investigating the palaeoenvironmental context 0.8. Archaeological investigations Part I The interaction between the natural and cultural landscape-insights into the 17 fifth-second millennia bc Chapter 1 The geology, soils and present-day environment of Gozo and Malta 19
0.1. Introduction 0.2. Background to FRAGSUS as an archaeological project 0.3. Environmental rese... more 0.1. Introduction 0.2. Background to FRAGSUS as an archaeological project 0.3. Environmental research in Malta and the Mediterranean 0.4. The development of the FRAGSUS Project and its questions 0.5. Archaeological concerns in Maltese prehistory and the FRAGSUS Project 0.6. The research programme: the sites and their selection 0.7. Investigating the palaeoenvironmental context 0.8. Archaeological investigations Part I The interaction between the natural and cultural landscape-insights into the 17 fifth-second millennia bc Chapter 1 The geology, soils and present-day environment of Gozo and Malta 19
The Lower Moulouya Basin in northeast Morocco is characterised by Mediterranean arid to semiarid ... more The Lower Moulouya Basin in northeast Morocco is characterised by Mediterranean arid to semiarid environmental conditions of a North African desert margin. In geomorphological research, desert margins reveal a high potential for palaeoenvironmental studies, as they react very sensitive to past and future climatic changes. The alluvial deposits of the Lower Moulouya can be divided in three sedimentation series: the Series I is dated between 9.9 and 6.5 ka cal. BP and shows silty to sandy layers with hydromorphic features and intercalated initial alluvial soils. The Series II is dated between 4.2 and 3.2 ka cal. BP and indicates clayey to silty fine laminae with hydromorphic features and an onset of charcoal-rich layers. The Series III is dated between 3.2 and 1.4 ka cal. BP and features clayey to silty fine laminae with greyish to reddish colouring. Series III reveals charcoal-rich layers and gypsum crystals in clay-rich reddish sediments. The dating of the archaeological findings (silex, ceramics, bones) of the buried open air sites indicate an human occupation at the Lower Moulouya during the Epipalaeolithics, Neolithics, Protohistoric and Middle Ages. The phases correspond chronologically with already known archaeological archives from eastern Rif rock-shelters and caves. The maximum of archaeological findings at the Lower Moulouya corresponds to the Early Neolithics, a period which comes along with the Mid-Holocene climatic optimum.
On 19th November 2001, while two of us (DB, NJC) were preparing a drawn record of the Punic tomb ... more On 19th November 2001, while two of us (DB, NJC) were preparing a drawn record of the Punic tomb that is situated on Bajda Ridge, Xemxija, a small ceramic bowl (100211) was uncovered from below a few centimetres of soil that covered the inner part of the threshold to the rock-cut chamber (Fig. 1). An official from the Museums Department was informed of the discovery on the same day and a site inspection was carried out. It was realised that more artefacts could lie undisturbed within the chamber and a decision was taken to excavate the deposit. Authorisation for the Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, to undertake the excavation was received from the Director, Museums Department, and the excavation was completed on the 22nd November. The tomb is located on the ridge, near a path that diverges eastwards from the track that links Pwales valley to the Mistra valley. It is cut in the Upper Coralline limestone that outcrops in the area on a North-South axis and c...
Becker's 1913 publication Malta Sotterranea, Studien zur altchristlichen und jiidischen Sepul... more Becker's 1913 publication Malta Sotterranea, Studien zur altchristlichen und jiidischen Sepulkralkunst- studies of Malta's early Christian and Jewish sepulchral art- is a work often quoted and sometimes even copied by authors writing on Malta's catacombs and Late Antiquity. Its value was recognised by many scholars, but to date very few have managed to fully grasp and understand it. Certainly, one does not need to understand much German to realise that his study was exceptionally thorough and methodical. But one needs to master German and German grammar perfectly in order to follow his line of reasoning - which is why many remarkable conclusions and discoveries in Malta Sotterranea were at best ignored, or at worst wrongly quoted or totally misunderstood. Ironically, it is thanks to the latter that his book never slipped into oblivion.peer-reviewe
0.1. Introduction 0.2. Background to FRAGSUS as an archaeological project 0.3. Environmental rese... more 0.1. Introduction 0.2. Background to FRAGSUS as an archaeological project 0.3. Environmental research in Malta and the Mediterranean 0.4. The development of the FRAGSUS Project and its questions 0.5. Archaeological concerns in Maltese prehistory and the FRAGSUS Project 0.6. The research programme: the sites and their selection 0.7. Investigating the palaeoenvironmental context 0.8. Archaeological investigations Part I The interaction between the natural and cultural landscape-insights into the 17 fifth-second millennia bc Chapter 1 The geology, soils and present-day environment of Gozo and Malta 19
The small size and relatively challenging environmental conditions of the semi-isolated Maltese a... more The small size and relatively challenging environmental conditions of the semi-isolated Maltese archipelago mean that the area offers an important case study of societal change and human-environment interactions. Following an initial phase of Neolithic settlement, the “Temple Period” in Malta began ∼5.8 thousand years ago (ka), and came to a seemingly abrupt end ∼4.3 ka, and was followed by Bronze Age societies with radically different material culture. Various ideas concerning the reasons for the end of the Temple Period have been expressed. These range from climate change, to invasion, to social conflict resulting from the development of a powerful “priesthood.” Here, we explore the idea that the end of the Temple Period relates to the 4.2 ka event. The 4.2 ka event has been linked with several examples of significant societal change around the Mediterranean, such as the end of the Old Kingdom in Egypt, yet its character and relevance have been debated. The Maltese example offers ...
A legacy of antiquarian and archaeological explorations in the Maltese archipelago has long been ... more A legacy of antiquarian and archaeological explorations in the Maltese archipelago has long been identified with the rock-cut tombs and associated funerary remains of the Phoenician and Punic periods. By contrast, little is known about the islands’ countryside in antiquity. Recent excavations at the site of a long-lived Roman villa complex in Żejtun (Malta) have begun to throw light on the rural world of the archipelago, unravelling the nature of the transition between the Punic and Roman periods where continuity rather than rupture implied by the phases of culture history is becoming clearer.
0.1. Introduction 0.2. Background to FRAGSUS as an archaeological project 0.3. Environmental rese... more 0.1. Introduction 0.2. Background to FRAGSUS as an archaeological project 0.3. Environmental research in Malta and the Mediterranean 0.4. The development of the FRAGSUS Project and its questions 0.5. Archaeological concerns in Maltese prehistory and the FRAGSUS Project 0.6. The research programme: the sites and their selection 0.7. Investigating the palaeoenvironmental context 0.8. Archaeological investigations Part I The interaction between the natural and cultural landscape-insights into the 17 fifth-second millennia bc Chapter 1 The geology, soils and present-day environment of Gozo and Malta 19
A legacy of antiquarian and archaeological explorations in the Maltese archipelago has long been ... more A legacy of antiquarian and archaeological explorations in the Maltese archipelago has long been identified with the rock-cut tombs and associated funerary remains of the Phoenician and Punic periods. By contrast, little is known about the islands’ countryside in antiquity. Recent excavations at the site of a long-lived Roman villa complex in Żejtun (Malta) have begun to throw light on the rural world of the archipelago, unravelling the nature of the transition between the Punic and Roman periods where continuity rather than rupture implied by the phases of culture history is becoming clearer.
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