Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta.
Special thanks to the head of department Dr Carmel Serracino.
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Looking at old pots with fresh eyes: revisiting the pottery from the 1960s excavation at Ras ir-Raħeb (Malta)
15/12/2021 @ 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
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.