The Maltese Archipelago at the Dawn of History: Reassessment of the 1909 and 1959 Excavations at Qlejgħa tal-Baħrija and Other Essays

The Maltese Archipelago at the Dawn of History. Reassessment of the 1909 and 1959 excavations at Qlejgħa tal-Baħrija and other essays is a collection of essays focusing on the reassessment of the multifaceted evidence which emerged by excavations carried out in 1909 and 1959 in the settlement of Bahrija, a key site for the understanding of the later stages of Maltese prehistory before the beginning of the Phoenician colonial period. The two excavations, largely unpublished, produced a large quantity of ceramic, stone and metal artefacts together with skeletal remains. The reappraisal of the material will shed light on critical moments of central Mediterranean prehistory. Main topics such as the Aegean-Sicily-Malta trade network, mass migration movements from the Balkans towards the Central Mediterranean and the colonial dynamics of the Phoenicians operating in the West are addressed in the light of new data and with the support of an array of archaeometric analyses.Table of ContentsIntroduction – Davide Tanasi, David CardonaPart I1. Il-Qlejgħa tal-Baħrija: the story – David Cardona2. Il-Qlejgħa tal-Baħrija: an archaeological survey – MariaElena Zammit3. Bronze and Iron Age pottery from the 1909 and 1959 excavations at Qlejgħa tal-Baħrija – Davide Tanasi4. Textile tools and terracotta figurines from Prehistoric Qlejgħa tal-Baħrija – Carlo Veca5. Stone, metal and bone artefacts from Qlejgħa tal-Baħrija – Carlo Veca, Paolo Trapani, Davide Tanasi6. Post-Prehistoric pottery from the 1909 and 1959 excavations at Qlejgħa tal-Baħrija – Stephan HassamPart II7. Non-destructive pXRF analysis of Middle Bronze and Iron Age pottery from Malta – Davide Tanasi, Robert H. Tykot, Frederick Pirone, Nicholas C. Vella8. Baħrija pottery production from an archaeometric perspective – Davide Tanasi, Daniele Brunelli, Valentina Cannavò, Sara Tiziana Levi9. New data on the absolute chronology of the Maltese Middle/Late Bronze Age – Davide Tanasi, Robert H. TykotPart III10. A critical revision of the Late Borġ in-Nadur/Baħrija-type pottery from the Thapsos settlement (Sicily) – Davide Tanasi11. The Tas-Silġ sanctuary between the late 2nd and the early 1st millennia BC – Alberto Cazzella, Giulia Recchia12. Zooarchaeology of Għar Mirdum. Preliminary Analysis – Roberto Miccichè