The worked stone

Abstract

Stone is the Maltese Islands' natural resource par excellence and as such artefacts and finds made of this material are found in abundance in any archaeological site on the islands. This is even more so in a site with such a long period of use resulting in so many building phases. Stone is obviously used mostly as building material or its by-products, but it was also extensively used for other purposes and artefacts such as free-standing decorative elements and statues of various sizes. This study deals with 207 fragments of stone and stone derivatives found during the excavations carried out by the University of Malta in the southern sector of the site. Most of these fragments are, however, very small and fragmented and cannot therefore be clearly identified and studied. Twenty-two fragments can still be identified with particular sections of an architectural decorative scheme and will thus be described according to type. The remaining items are too fragmentary to offer any substantial information and will thus be listed in the seven tables attached to this chapter. One of the most important derivatives of stone is lime that was extensively used as plaster, of which 65 pieces were discovered in the course of the excavation. Finally, there are 16 stone artefacts that cannot be connected to any architectural elements, while another 64 pieces consist of stone fragments that give useful information on the working techniques (and hence the tools) used during the various phases of construction.