Archaeology and the Sea in the Maltese Islands

Archaeology and the Sea in the Maltese Islands

Author: Elaine Azzopardi

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9789993274025

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Malta and Gozo's geographical location in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea has, since ancient times, led to numerous ships passing through the islands' waters. Several records of this maritime activity exist in different archives and other evidence can be deduced from the seabed. Despite this, the maritime archaeology of our islands has remained largely unexplored. This book has been produced to address just a small part of this lacuna. By looking at the history of underwater archaeology in Malta and providing an overview of some of the most important finds from the seabed around the archipelago readers will be able to familiarize themselves with the fascinating world of our submerged cultural heritage. In order to portray the full story it was necessary to start at the beginning of underwater exploration in Malta. The authors had the opportunity to meet and interview a number of pioneers who took up scuba diving in the late 1950s and early 1960s. We are indebted to them for the invaluable information that they passed on as well as for the archival material they shares. Other sources used fo this research came from the stores and archives of the Superintendence of Cultural heritage and Heritage Malta. Both these institutions have done a professional job keeping up to date with all material recovered from an underwater context. This book should be of interest to divers, students, researchers as well as the general public with the hope to increase awareness and passion towards the submerged cultural heritage of the Maltese islands.


The Maltese Islands and the Sea

The Maltese Islands and the Sea

Author: Timmy Gambin

Publisher:

Published: 2015-11-30

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 9789993275510

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The one inescapable fact of living on an island is that islanders are are surrounded by sea. Over ninety percent of all goods that the Maltese consume on a daily basis have, at some point or other, traveled across some stretch of sea or other. This volume is divided in two sections. Four historical essays in Part I cover the maritime history of the Maltese Islands from the ancient period to the British era. Although set in chronological order, these essays may be read individually or in sequence. Part II of the volume is dedicated to maritime heritage. Essays contained in this section cover different aspects of Malta's maritime tradition - some hardly known as well others which are presently considered as popular tradition. All chapters in this section provide extremely valuable contributions to the maritime cultural heritage of Malta and Gozo. This section of the book is also very well illustrated.


Eight Thousand Years of Maltese Maritime History

Eight Thousand Years of Maltese Maritime History

Author: Ayse Devrim Atauz

Publisher:

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 406

ISBN-13:

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For millennia, Malta has always been considered a site of strategic importance. From the arrival of the Phoenicians through rule under Carthage, Rome, Sicilian Arabs, Normans, and Genovese, to the Order of St. John ("Knights of Malta"), the advent of the Napoleonic Wars, and even World Wars I and II, the Maltese islands have served as re-provisioning stations, military bases, and refuges for pirates and privateers. Building on her systematic underwater archaeological survey of the Maltese archipelago, Ayse Atauz presents a sweeping, groundbreaking, interdisciplinary approach to maritime history in the Mediterranean. Offering a general overview of essential facts, including geographical and oceanographic factors that would have affected the navigation of historic ships, major relevant historical texts and documents, the logistical possibilities of ancient ship design, a detailed study of sea currents and wind patterns, and especially the archaeological remains (or scarcity thereof) around the Maltese maritime perimeter, she builds a convincing argument that Malta mattered far less in maritime history than has been previously asserted. Atauz's conclusions are of great importance to the history of Malta and of the Mediterranean in general, and her archaeological discoveries about ships are a major contribution to the history of shipbuilding and naval architecture.


The Maltese Archipelago at the Dawn of History

The Maltese Archipelago at the Dawn of History

Author: Davide Tanasi

Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd

Published: 2020-08-27

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13: 1789694949

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This collection of essays provides a reassessment of the multifaceted evidence which emerged from excavations carried out in 1909 and 1959 in the settlement of Bahrija, both largely unpublished until now. Bahrija is a key site for understanding the later stages of Maltese prehistory before the beginning of the Phoenician colonial period.


Essays on the Archaeology and Ancient History of the Maltese Islands

Essays on the Archaeology and Ancient History of the Maltese Islands

Author: Mario Buhagiar

Publisher:

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9789993274827

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This collection of essays, by leading scholar and academic Professor Mario Buhagiar, brings together in a single volume a select miscellany of studies which focus primarily on Bronze Age, Punico-Roman, Early Christian and Byzantine archaeology and history filtered through a synthesis of the archaeological, documentary, and art historical evidence. Its main strength is the contextualisation and informed analysis of the iconographic and artistic source material. The essays include: - The Fortified Bronze Age Settlements of the Maltese Islands - Two Archaeological Sites: Ras ir-Raheb and Ras il-Wardija - Roman Malta: A Review of the Archaeological Source Material - The St Paul Shipwreck Controversy: An Assessment of the Source Material - St Paul's Shipwreck and Early Christianity in Malta - The Early Christian Cemeteries: An Overview - The Bingemma Necropolis - The Jesuits' Hill Archaeological Site on the Grand Harbour - The Late Roman and Early Christian Hypogea of Tarxien and Casal Paola - Late Roman and Early Christian Burial Sites in the Zebbiegh-Mgarr and Birkirkara-Has Sajjied Districts - The Funerary Triclinia of the Maltese Catacombs - The Iconography of the Maltese Rock-Tombs: Romano-Punic, Early Christian and Byzantine - The Rock-Engravings and Architectural Decoration of the Romano-Punic and Early Christian Hypogea - The Xaghra ta' Santa Duminka Rock-Tombs: Reflections on Maltese Early Christian Art - The Early Christian and Byzantine Site at Abbatija tad-Dejr: Archaeological and Art Historical Insights - The Jewish Catacombs of Roman Melite - Early Christian and Byzantine Malta: Archaeological and Textual Considerations - The Early Christian Remains at Tas-Silg and San Pawl Milqi: A Reconsideration of the Archaeological Evidence - Gozo in Late Roman, Byzantine and Muslim Times


The Archaeology of Malta

The Archaeology of Malta

Author: Claudia Sagona

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2015-08-25

Total Pages: 471

ISBN-13: 1316395286

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The Maltese archipelago is a unique barometer for understanding cultural change in the central Mediterranean. Prehistoric people helped reshape the islands' economy and when Mediterranean maritime highways were being established, the islands became a significant lure to Phoenician colonists venturing from their Levantine homeland. Punic Malta also sat at the front line of regional hostilities until it fell to Rome. Preserved in this island setting are signs of people's endurance and adaptation to each new challenge. This book is the first systematic and up-to-date survey of the islands' archaeological evidence from the initial settlers to the archipelago's inclusion into the Roman world (c.5000 BC–400 AD). Claudia Sagona draws upon old and new discoveries and her analysis covers well-known sites such as the megalithic structures, as well as less familiar locations and discoveries. She interprets the archaeological record to explain changing social and political structures, intriguing ritual practices and cultural contact through several millennia.


Human-induced Changes in the Environment and Landscape of the Maltese Islands from the Neolithic to the 15th Century AD

Human-induced Changes in the Environment and Landscape of the Maltese Islands from the Neolithic to the 15th Century AD

Author: Katrin Fenech

Publisher: British Archaeological Reports Oxford Limited

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13:

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This is a scientific study of sediments from Marsa. From the stratigraphy, and from detailed anlyses of the sediments, the author reconstructs a general sequence of events in the history of the Marsa area and looks at man's impact on the environment and landscape.