PUBLISHED 2020. Please visit the publication's webpage.
The Maltese Archipelago (and its deep history) is located at a significant juncture. These islands,
situated between the northern and southern shorelines of the Mediterranean, were first inhabited in
the 6th millennium BCE. Unsurprisingly, the archaeological study of Malta has long given an insight into
the life of islanders connected to a much broader world, extending across the breadth of the
Mediterranean basin. However, only in the last decade, the interpretation of the cultural processes of
later Maltese prehistory has taken significant steps forward by the study and the publication of old
excavation contexts as well as by the modern approach of applying hard sciences to long forgotten data.
These advances are providing the archaeological community with a better sense of how island life
created challenges and opportunities to its inhabitants. Nevertheless, a number of significant
archaeological sites remain unpublished and uncontextualized, despite their clear importance in
highlighting Malta’s role in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea.
The aim of this project is thus to undertake the study and final publication of the unparalleled evidence provided by the excavations carried out in 1909 by T.E. Peet and in 1959 by D.H. Trump, at Bahrija, also known as il‐Qlejgha tal‐Bahrija (35o 53’ 42.69’’ N; 14o 20’ 54.88’’ E; western Malta), the only site representing the last native cultural production and the first example of contamination by the Phoenicians. The archaeological evidence was only previously published in a very brief and preliminary manner, causing a general underestimation of the role of this site among the scholars. The multinational team proposing this project argues that we cannot allow this period in Malta’s early history to fall on the wayside. Rather, the growing interest in the Mediterranean at large suggests that during the 1st millennium BCE the clash between the movement of historic peoples and native late prehistoric groups has initiated significant debates on colonialism and postcolonialism.
The publication project is directed by Dr. Davide Tanasi.
