ITALIAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS START NEW EXCAVATIONS AT SAN PAWL MILQI AND TAS-SILG

ITALIAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS START NEW EXCAVATIONS AT SAN PAWL MILQI AND TAS-SILG

A team of Italian archaeologists are about to complete a first season of excavations at the site of the Chapel of San Pawl Milqi in Burmarrad.

In order to mark the start of works at San Pawl Milqi, the Museums Department, in collaboration with the excavators on the site, will be staging an open day at this site on Friday 14th July. The general public is cordially invited to visit the site which has been closed for some time. The site will be open between

4.00 p.m.and 8.00 p.m. Members of the excavation team and Museums Department officials will be on site to illustrate the archaeological features and explain the process of excavation.

The last archaeological investigations at this site had been carried out in the early 1970s. The current project is the result of a close collaboration between the Museums Department and the Italian Archaeological Mission to Malta and is expected to greatly improve our understanding of this important Roman site. It will also result in a needed improvement of this monument's long-term state of conservation.

These works of the Italian Mission at San Pawl Milqi (which began on the 20th of June) are being jointly conducted by the Universit'� La Sapienzaof Rome and La Cattolica of Milan.

Activities on site will this year also include a second season of fieldwork between October and November, both at San Pawl Milqi and at the ancient sanctuary site known as Tas-Silg (near Marsaxlokk). These works are supported by grants from the Italian Ministry for Universities and Scientific and Technological Research and by the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs. These grants represent a considerable foreign financial investment in the development of the local heritage / archaeological sector.

Work is currently proceeding at San Pawl Milqi, a site which includes a Punic and Roman villa over which were built a number of medieval Christian chapels. At present the site includes a picturesque 17th century chapel dedicated to St.Paul and is still being used as a place of worship.

The site was excavated by Italian archaeologists from 1963 to 1968, and the results were regularly published even in such major works as Michelangelo Cagiano de Azevedo's Testimonianze Archeologiche della Tradizione Paolina a Malta(Roma 1966). The site has enjoyed great publicity precisely because of its perceived relationship with the traditions tied to the stay of the Apostle Paul in Malta. In fact according to a long-standing tradition, the chapel of San Pawl Milqi was built over the ruins of the country house in which St.Paul was welcomed by Publius following his shipwreck on the Island.

The renewal of archaeological research at this site has two objectives. On one hand, it intends to re-examine all the available scientific data relating to this site, in the light of modern archaeological techniques of research and interpretation. On the other hand, the work also intends to prepare the site for a programme of conservation works and eventual presentation to the public. The excavation works are entrusted to a team of archaeologists of the Universita' La Cattolica of Milan, under the direction of Prof. Maria Pia Rossignani, assisted by Dott. Davide Locatelli.

From Mid-October to the end of November works will also be carried out at Tas-Silg, under the direction of Prof. Antonia Ciasca, which will include both excavation works and a conservation programme. Very important results have been obtained over the last few years by the Italian Mission at Tas-Silg. At this site it has been possible to illustrate how a Neolithic megalithic temple was re-used at least since Phoenician times well into the Roman period as a centre of worship dedicated to the goddess Ashtarte (or to Juno, as she was termed in the Roman period). Impressive new results on the development of this famous ancient site have been achieved.

The Mission is actively developing a series of publications to present the data on Tas-Silg and San Pawl Milqi to the local and the international public. Within the current year a volume authored by Dott.ssa Brunella Bruno entitled Malta in Eta' Romana e Bizantina - Economia di un Arcipelago al Centro del Mediterraneo will be available, and this will include much new data on the centuries going from the 3rd Century BC to the 9th Century AD. An English version of this text is also being prepared. Other major studies being prepared by the Mission will cast new light on ancient life in Malta and on the importance of this Island's archaeology, even from an international standpoint. Other studies in preparation include the results recently obtained in other areas of research, including the publication of the prehistoric remains, the Phoenician ceramics and the sacred wares used within the temple rituals. Furthermore Yearly Preliminary Reports on the work undertaken by the Missione will start to be published locally by the Malta Archaeological Review.

The support of the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs for the activities of the Archaeological Mission has resulted in its allocation of a generous financial grant, which has to this day amounted to Italian Lire 80,000,000. This grant has permitted the Italian Archaeological Mission in collaboration with the Museums Department to start a programme of conservation works both at Tas-Silg and at San Pawl Milqi. The authorities are very concerned at the extent of damage caused by the elements to these sites since the 1960s. To remedy this situation, the prestigious Istituto Centrale di Restauro(Rome) has been commissioned in 1999 to draw up a preliminary report on the conservation needs of this site. The Istituto has also been entrusted with implementing extensive conservation works at these sites, which are scheduled to start in Autumn of this year.

The various activities being developed by the Museums Department and by the Italian Archaeological Mission at Tas-Silg and San Pawl Milqi will guarantee a better understanding and improved conservation of these sites. These are essential prerequisites if these monuments are to be opened and appreciated by the general public.