|
METAGEUM '07
|
Dr Caroline Malone: Neolithic Religion in Malta I
Dr Simon Stoddart: Exploring the Prehistoric Maltese Mind on Beliefs in Death
Dr Caroline Malone: Neolithic Religion in Malta II
Book now for whole or part of the Metageum event.
|
At Metageum '07
Dr Caroline Malone and Dr Simon Stoddart, two directors of the Gozo project, will be giving presentations at the Metageum conference.
About the Gozo Project
The Gozo project was started in 1987 to investigate unsolved problems of the fourth and third millennium BC in Malta, the phase of temple construction. These problems were defined as
- the reconstruction of funerary ritual (investigated through excavation at the Brochtorff Circle);
- the understanding of settlement organisation (investigated through regional field survey and limited excavation)
- the investigation of environmental change (investigated through the study of environmental indicators such as molluscs).
In practice, most effort has been invested in the excavation and study of the patterns of art and mortuary ritual at the Brochtorff Circle and this was the principal focus of the twelve-year post-excavation work. The seven fieldwork seasons of excavation at the Brochtorff Circle, based on a unique Anglo-Maltese collaboration, were completed in 1994. The achievements comprise the substantial excavation of the largest and most intact funerary temple hypogeum discovered and analysed under modern conditions in the central Mediterranean; a sequence of 13 radiocarbon dates for the principal phases (Zebbug, Tarxien and Tarxien Cemetery); recovery of prehistoric art and architecture in context; meticulous in situ recording of a substantial sample of human bone. The 1994 excavation season uncovered substantial deposits of super-imposed, articulated individuals (some with simple gravegoods of cowrie shells and pottery) adding a further dimension to complexity of human burial. There is now substantial evidence for many phases of funerary ritual, including the manipulation of human bone in various stages of articulation.
An associated project is also under way in collaboration with the Department of Computer Science of the University of Bristol and the University of Malta to make computerised reconstructions of the Maltese temples and subterranean mortuary structures such as the Brochtorff Circle at Xaghra. The image shown above is an illustration of this. (www.cs.bris.ac.uk/~alan.)
Summary : A speech by the Minister for Gozo
Excerpts from a speech by the Hon. Giovanna DeBono, Minister for Gozo, during the seminar regarding Brochtorff Excavation on Saturday, 25th September 2004. (Source: www.doi.gov.mt.) |
|
Today marks the beginning of the fulfilment of a dream for Gozo. A much desired wish is becoming a reality. When way back in 1996 the finds from the Xaghra Stone Circle were exhibited for the first time in Gozo during an exhibition organized by the Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti in association with the National Museum of Archaeology, the wish to have these treasures found in Gozo exhibited permanently here became a need and a mission of the Ministry for Gozo. Gozo boasts of a rich cultural heritage disproportionate with its small size. Notwithstanding its limited resources it has always strived to preserve and promote its heritage as a source of national pride and as an attraction to tourism so much necessary for the wellbeing of our islands. But on our own, we cannot be expected to shoulder the unenviable burden of preserving and conserving the immense legacy forwarded to us by our ancestors, which we hold in trust for the rest of humanity. It is therefore with great pleasure and satisfaction that the Ministry for Gozo has associated itself with Heritage Malta in the organization of this seminar, a very important step in a series of initiatives being taken jointly in favour of the heritage of Gozo. Since the setting up of Heritage Malta , the National Agency responsible for the heritage of the Maltese islands, the Ministry for Gozo has collaborated closely with Heritage Malta in a number of initiatives intended to preserve and promote our heritage. A number of state-of-the-art showcases will be procured for the Gozo Museum of Archaeology, which will enable the most significant finds unearthed during archaeological excavations at the Xaghra Stone Circle to be exhibited permanently in Gozo in environmentally controlled and properly secure showcases. . At the close of today’s seminar, I feel in duty bound to officially thank all those who have been involved in this unique experience for Gozo. I start with Mr Joe Attard Tabone whose interest in archaeology coupled with the love for his home island have led to the conclusive relocation of this important site on Gozo. Thanks are also due to all those who insisted on having the site excavated and those who led the excavation namely Dr Simon Stoddart and Dr Caroline Malone from the University of Cambridge, Dr David Trump - former curator at the National Museum, Professor Anthony Bonanno from the University of Malta and Dr Tony Pace - formerly Director of Museums and now Superintendent of Cultural Heritage. A special thanks to all those students and volunteers from different countries who worked for long hours under our scorching summer sun painstakingly excavating and recording the finds. A word of thanks goes also to all the Universities and institutions who supported this project and provided academics, equipment and funding to carry out this excavation and study the finds of the Xaghra Stone Circle. |
Reports and publications
A long time has elapsed since the start of the excavation of the Brochtorff Circle at Xaghra. Information has come out in a number of publications and reports. This culminates in the massive tome, Mortuary Ritual in Prehistoric Malta, which is due to be published this year.
- 2007: Mortuary Ritual in Prehistoric Malta. The Brochtorff Circle excavations (1987-1994) (in press), edited by Caroline Malone, Simon Stoddart, David Trump, Anthony Bonanno, and Anthony Pace, to be published by the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research in the University of Cambridge (www.mcdonald.cam.ac.uk).
This is the final, comprehensive report on the project. - 2006: Caroline Malone and Simon Stoddart presented interpretations of their findings at Heritage Malta's Third Annual Conference at the Hall of the Ministry for Gozo on 17th December 2006.
This was reported in the new media (eg Malta Independent, www.di-ve.com) but, as far as I know, no proceedings were published.) 
2005: The Death Cults of Prehistoric Malta by Caroline Malone, Anthony Bonanno, Tancred Gouder, Simon Stoddart, and David Trump, in: Mysteries of the Ancient Ones, Scientific American Special Edition vol. 15(1), pp. 14-23 (February 2005). (See www.sciamdigital.com to purchase and download this special edition.)
This is the first news of the Brochtorff findings to be presented to a wide audience.
- 2004: Xaghra Stone Circle - Seminar and field lecture, a half-day seminary on Saturday, 25th September 2004, at Venue Hall, Ministry of Gozo, Victoria, Gozo.
As far as I know, no proceedings were published, but the presentations were as follows: 'Opening' by the Minister for Tourism and Culture, 'Introduction' by the Chairman of Heritage Malta; 'The Xaghra Circle - a historical background' by Mr Joe Attard Tabone; 'Working with bones from the Xaghra Stone Circle' by Dr. Simon Stoddart; 'The archaeological assemblage from the Xaghra Stone Circle' by Dr. Caroline Malone; 'Art at the Xaghra Stone Circle in the context of the funerary art from the Maltese island', by Professor Anthony Bonanno (Head of the Department of Classics & Archaeology, University of Malta); 'The Tarxien Cemetery phases of the Xaghra Circle in context' by Mr Anthony Pace (Superintendent for Cultural Heritage); field lecture given at the Xaghra Stone Circle. 
2004: Towards an island of mind? by Caroline Malone and Simon Stoddart, in: Explaining social change: Studies in honour of Colin Renfrew, edited by J. Cherry, C. Scarre, and S. Shennan, McDonald Institute Monographs, pp. 93-102. Cambridge: McDonald Institute, Cambridge.
Over the past thirty years, social archaeology has become one of the central fields of archaeological research, placing human societies at the heart of our understanding of the human past. Colin Renfrew has been a key champion of social archaeology, and the present volume brings together a series of papers on the occasion of his retirement. They have been written by colleagues and former students, and touch upon many of the themes that he himself has studied and about which he has written so persuasively and engagingly: the development of the human mind, trade and exchange, social change, chiefdoms and states, and the archaeology of island societies. These studies focus not on earlier work, however, but reveal the new directions that have developed in recent years, bringing the study of social archaeology firmly into the twenty-first century.-
2003: Exploring the Prehistoric Maltese Temple Culture (EMPTC): The private OTS Foundation (led by Linda Eneix) organised its EMPTC conference at the DePorres Cultural Centre, in Sliema, Malta, 25-27 September, and some more information about the Brochtorff Circle excavation was released. Caroline Malone gave her paper, Malta, the Mediterranean, and the Role of Prehistoric Art, and Simon Stoddart gave his paper, Cycles of Life or Eternity: New Light on Prehistoric Maltese ortuary Ritual from the Brochtorff Cicle at Xaghra. Available as CD-ROM from the OTSF web site, www.otsf.org/EMPTC-conference.html
2002: Monuments in the prehistoric landscape of the Maltese islands: Ritual and domestic transformations, by Simon Stoddart, in: Inscribed Landscapes: Marking and making place edited by B. David and M. Wilson, pp. 176-186, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.
2002: The Xaghra shaman? by Simon Stoddart, in: New Approaches to Medical Archaeology and Medical Anthropology: Practitioners, practices and patients, edited by G. Carr and P.A. Baker, pp. 125-135, Oxbow Books, Oxford.
- 2001: Neolithic diet at the Brochtorff Circle, Malta, by M. Richards, R. Hedges, I. Walton, Simon Stoddart, and Caroline Malone, in European Journal of Archaeology, vol. 4(2), pp. 253-262.
1999: Mortuary customs in prehistoric Malta by Simon Stoddart, in: Facets of Maltese Prehistory edited by Anton Mifsud and Charles Savona-Ventura, pp 183-190, published by the Prehistoric Society of Malta, Mosta.
- 1999: Long term dynamics of an island community: Malta 5500 BC-2000 AD, by Simon Stoddart, pp 137-147 in:Social Dynamics in the Central Mediterranean (Accordia Specialist Studies on the Mediterranean, volume 3), edited by R.H. Tykot, 240 pp, published by the Accordia Research Institute at University College London, ISBN 1873415192.
1999: The articulation of disarticulation. preliminary thoughts on the Brochtorff Circle at Xaghra (Gozo), by Simon Stoddart, M. Wysocki, G. Burgess, G. Barber, C. Duhig, Caroline Malone, and G. Mann, in: The loved body's corruption: Archaeological contributions to the study of human mortality edited by J. Downes and A. Pollard, pp. 94-105, published by Cruithne Press, Glasgow.
- 1998: God or Goddess? The Temple Art of Ancient Malta by Caroline Malone, in Ancient Goddesses: the myths and evidence edited by L. Goodison, and C. Morris, published by British Museum Press, London pp 148-163.
-
1998: The conditions of creativity for Prehistoric Maltese Art, by Caroline Malone, and Simon Stoddart, pp 241 - 259 in Creativity in Human Evolution and Prehistory edited by Steven Mithen, published by Routledge, ISBN 978-0415160964. - 1996: Ritual, death and burial in the Neolithic central Mediterranean by Caroline Malone, in: Approaches to the Study of Ritual. Italy and the Ancient Mediterranean edited by J.B. Wilkins (Accordia Specialist Studies on the Mediterranean 2) London, Accordia Research Centre.
- 1996: Representations of death - discoveries at the Xaghra Stone Circle by Caroline Malone and Simon Stoddart, in: Maltese Prehistoric Art 5000-2500 BC edited by Anthony Pace, published by Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, National Museum of Malta and the Ministry of Culture, Valletta, pp 45-51.
- 1996: Excavations in Gozo 1987-1994 by Caroline Malone & Simon Stoddart, in Issue 1 of The Journal of The Archaeological Society, Malta
- 1996: Maltese and Mediterranean megalithism in the light of the Brochtorff Circle, by Caroline Malone and Simon Stoddart, pp 109-114 in: The Neolithic in the Near East and Europe. Colloquium XVI. Megalithism. Preprints of the XIII Congress of the UISPP, Forl`i, Italy,, edited by R. Grifoni Cremonesi, J. Guilaine, and J. L'Helgouach, published by Abaco,Forl`i
- 1995: Mortuary ritual of fourth millennium BC Malta: The Zebbug tomb from the Brochtorff Circle (Gozo) by Caroline Malone, Simon Stoddart, Anthony Bonanno, Tancred Gouder, and David Trump, in: Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, volume 61, pp. 303-345.
- 1995: The maltese nation chooses prehistoric ancestors by Simon Stoddart and Caroline Malone, in Past (Newsletter of the Prehistoric Society), 21 (11).
- 1995: The Landscape of the Island Goddess? A Maltese perspective of the central Mediterranean by Caroline Malone, Simon Stoddart, A Townsend, in Caeculus (Papers on Mediterranean Archaeology), Archaeological Institute, Groningen University, vol 2, pp 1-15.
- 1993: Cult in an Island Society: Prehistoric Malta in the Tarxien period by Simon Stoddart, Anthony Bonanno, Tancred Gouder, Caroline Malone, and David Trump, in Cambridge Journal of Archaeology vol. 3(1), pp 3-19.
- 1993: New Light on Death in Prehistoric Malta: the Brochtorff Circle by David Trump, Anthony Bonanno, Tancred Gouder, Caroline Malone, and Simon Stoddart, pp 100-101 in: People of the Stone Age. Hunter-Gatherers and Early Farmers. Old World Civilisations (Illustrated History of Humankind, volume 2), edited by G. Burenhult, published by Harper Collins for American Museum of Natural History, New York.
- 1990: Monuments in an island society: the Maltese context by Anthony Bonanno, Tancred Gouder, Caroline Malone, and Simon Stoddart, in World Archaeology, vol. 22(2), pp 190-205.
- 1988: A house for the temple builders. Recent investigations on Gozo by Caroline Malone, Simon Stoddart, and David Trump, in Antiquity vol, 62, pp 297-301.