https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/122898 Wed, 08 Apr 2026 15:19:44 GMT 2026-04-08T15:19:44Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/123012 Title: Ceramic production techniques and decorative motifs in the Early Neolithic of the Maltese Islands Authors: Vella Gregory, Isabelle Abstract: The Early Neolithic of the Maltese Islands is mostly known for its ceramics, with more substantial remains in the Skorba phase. However, the ceramics provide insight into communities. This paper traces the making of pots in the Early Neolithic, focusing on how a study of technology is also a study of people and their practices. In particular, it shows how an examination of tools used to decorate pottery reveals social and technological choices by local inhabitants. Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/123012 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/123011 Title: [Book review] The Maltese archipelago at the dawn of history : reassessment of the 1909 and 1959 excavations at Qlejgha tal-Baħrija and other essays Authors: Vella Gregory, Isabelle Abstract: For too long, the Maltese Bronze Age was the less popular cousin of the Neolithic. This started to change in 2011, when Tanasi and Nicholas Vella published Site, artefacts, landscape: prehistoric Borġ in-Nadur, Malta, followed by The late prehistory of Malta: essays on Borg in-Nadur and other sites in 2015 and this volume in 2020. All are published by Archaeopress and supported in part by the Shelby White-Leon Levy Foundation of Harvard University. Together, these volumes achieve many firsts, including a re-assessment of the Bronze Age, fundamental archaeometric analysis, absolute dates and the bringing together of various strands of research to produce a fundamental Bronze Age trilogy. Cumulatively, these books embody good practice for collaboration between various researchers and institutions, resulting in a much-needed fresh perspective that stems from different scholarly traditions. Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/123011 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/123010 Title: [Book review] The archaeology of Malta : from the Neolithic through the Roman period Authors: Bonanno, Anthony Abstract: This book is the product of an ambitious project, one that has not been attempted before, that of covering the whole of Maltese archaeology from prehistory down to the Roman age, in a scholarly, fully annotated volume. The author dedicates a fair portion of attention to each period of the islands’ history, except to the Roman period which she considers as an extension of the Punic one, amply revealing where her sympathies, and her forte, lie. It is presented as somewhat of an anticlimax, the local population’s Punic culture being only affected by ‘Roman influence’ after centuries of Roman occupation. Although the publication data on p. vi suggest that the historical account is taken down to AD 870, in actual fact the end of the Roman period, and the preceding centuries, are not even discussed and the Late Roman period, which archaeologically merges into the Byzantine, and its rich archaeological record are completely ignored. She steers clear of the sensitive controversy regarding the timing of Christianization, apart from a fleeting reference to St Paul’s shipwreck. Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/123010 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/123009 Title: Society Activities 2014-2020 Abstract: Society Activities 2014-2020. Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/123009 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z