Dun Ġwann Farrugia and two ‘young assistants’: reassessing the legacy of amateur archaeology
2024-10-16 18:00 (Europe/Malta) | 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.
