https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/47979 2026-04-28T05:40:54Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/50197 Title: The analytical identification and proposed recovery and conservation of an aircraft engine submerged off the coast of Malta Abstract: In 2006 a radial airplane engine was discovered off the coast of Malta. The engine was initially identified as that of the iconic Gloster Sea Gladiator N5519 ‘Charity’ which defended Malta during World War II from Axis bombing raids. This study aims to provide further identification of the engine and determine if it is actually from the Gloster Sea Gladiator N5519 ‘Charity’. The study will review recovery and conservation methods and discuss factors that influence the handling of such an object to plan recovery and treatment procedures in the event that the engine is determined to be recovered. An electrochemical treatment was outlined as the proposed treatment method. Based on a review of primary and secondary documents, it was found that the engine discovered in 2006 is not consistent with that of the Gloster Sea Gladiator N5519 ‘Charity’. Description: M.A.GLOBAL MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGY 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/49880 Title: A comparative analysis of the implementation of the European landscape convention within an archaeological framework : grassroots engagement in the protection of archaeological resources in Malta Abstract: The contemporary relevance of archaeology has become increasingly prominent in academic discourses of the discipline since the late 1980s. This post-processual direction in archaeological theory has led to much debate on the relationship between the public and archaeology. This paradigm shift is reflected in archaeological theory, and in the aims and objectives of international heritage conventions that ultimately form the backbone of archaeological practice. Two of the more relevant heritage conventions are the European Landscape Convention and the Faro Convention, today considered to be significant milestones in the redefinition of what constitutes cultural heritage, as well as setting the bar for the role of the public in heritage issues. The present study examines the relationship between archaeology and the public in Malta, and public engagement in the protection of archaeological heritage. Changing trends in the literature and in the international heritage conventions are considered. This is explored on a broader, international scale in the archaeological literature, as well as on the more specific scale of the situation in Malta. The interface between public and protagonists in Malta is explored through a number of qualitative in-depth interviews, conducted with key professionals from within heritage NGOs and members of the public from citizen-led heritage awareness groups. The data gathered from these interviews informs a thematic analysis of grassroots public engagement with archaeological resources in Malta, and its protection. The direct engagement of civil society in the protection of archaeological heritage resources is found to be in a state of flux. New forms of citizen engagement are emerging, spurred by a low level of confidence in institutional frameworks, and facilitated by social media. It is argued that a divide between the views and perspectives of the professional archaeological community and the wider Maltese public still persists today. Description: M.A.ARCHAEOLOGY 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/49877 Title: The Casa Lanfreducci bone assemblage from Valletta, Malta : a human remains assessment and study of the historical context Abstract: The study of commingled human remains is one that has not yet been tackled extensively in a local context and is still in its early stages. The commingled assemblage discovered in the basement of Casa Lanfreducci, Valletta, in 2011, is an assemblage that is surrounded by controversy due to the circumstances in which it was discovered. The basement abuts the crypt of Our Lady of Victory Church, Valletta, which was the first building erected in Valletta in 1566 by the Knights of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta. Due to the close proximity to the crypt, the initial hypothesis was that the identity of the individuals buried there could have been Knights belonging to the Order. This study focuses on a sample of 10 boxes of remains taken from the total of 37 boxes that house this assemblage. This investigation aims at determining the identity of the individuals to whom the remains belong and at establishing an historic context for the assemblage. An osteological evaluation was carried out on the sample selected in order to calculate a minimum number of individuals, estimated age and sex as well as the documentation of any pathologies and trauma that were observed. The trauma observed and the identification of females and infants among the remains suggests that the individuals buried in the basement of Casa Lanfreducci were not members of the Order. However, a study of documentation regarding the Church of Our Lady of Victory resulted in the discovery of three confraternities linked to this church. These confraternities could have made use of the burial grounds of the Order found beneath this same church. Description: M.A.ARCHAEOLOGY 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/49871 Title: Characterisation and identification of fossil and mineral inclusions in Roman pottery from one site in Victoria, Gozo. Abstract: Few pottery characterisation studies have been carried out on material from the Maltese Islands, and characterisation of local Roman coarse ware has never been attempted. This work aimed to characterise a well-known Roman period fabric from a site in Victoria, Gozo, which was thought to have been made from local clay and Greensand deposits and dated to c. end of the 2nd to mid-3rd century AD. The focus of this study was the inclusions and microfossils which could be found in the pottery. A combination of optical microscopy, SEM/EDS analysis and XRD were employed to study six pottery sherds and five Blue Clay and Greensand samples. The pottery sherds were confirmed to be made of a glauconitic fabric which may have been produced using local raw materials. Some of the samples studied contained inclusions from igneous rock which were probably imported to be used as temper for the production of pottery at this site. Description: M.A.ARCHAEOLOGY 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z