Mortuary Ritual of 4th Millennium bc Malta: the Zebbug Period Chambered Tomb from the Brochtorff Circle at Xaghra (Gozo)

Malone, Caroline; Stoddart, Simon; Bonanno, Anthony; Gouder, Tancred; Trump, David; Barber, Geraldine; Brown, C. J.; Dixon, John; Duhig, Corinne; Leighton, Robert; Schembri, Patrick J.

doi:10.1017/s0079497x0000311x

Cited by 14 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…This would include imported goods being recovered from levels associated with each of the chronological phases of Malta's prehistory such as obsidian, pumice, greenstone and flint (Trump 1966;Skeates 2002;Vella 2016). Additionally, similarities in the material culture between Malta and other locations in the central Mediterranean during the Maltese Neolithic period and Bronze Age such as similar decorative styles and forms observed among the ceramic repertoires and similarities in cultural forms such as funerary traditions and architecture have been noted in the archaeological literature (Evans 1959, Evans 1971Leighton 1999;Malone et al 1995;Trump 1966). However, the magnitude and nature of these external interactions may have evolved and changed over time (Copat et al 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Trace Elemental Characterization of Maltese Pottery from the Late Neolithic to Middle Bronze Age

Pirone

Tykot

2017

Open Archaeology

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Abstract:The aim of this research was to determine the provenance of Maltese ceramics and to determine the role pottery played in Maltese prehistoric trade and interaction networks. This study involved 236 Maltese ceramic samples, 19 geological clay samples from Ġnejna Bay & Selmun along with 18 ceramic samples from Ognina, Sicily, and four Sicilian clay samples from the outskirts of Siracusa that were nondestructively analyzed using a portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) spectrometer in order to determine their trace elemental compositions (Th, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr and Nb). The results of this analysis were statistically analyzed using principal component analysis in order to ascertain relationships in the chemical compositions among the samples. The results of this analysis indicate that the majority of all the Maltese ceramic samples have a local Maltese provenance and that pottery played a more significant role in defining the nature of Malta's trade relationships during the Bronze Age. The following study has provided new insights into Malta's role in trade and interaction networks from the late Neolithic to the Bronze Age and has allowed for new ideas in explaining the cultural change observed from the Temple Period to the Bronze Age.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Trace Elemental Characterization of Maltese Pottery from the Late Neolithic to Middle Bronze Age

Pirone

Tykot

2017

Open Archaeology

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“…This small structure (Malone et al 1995 is the oldest dated element of the site. Its age, perhaps combined with the intrusion of modern vine pits, and its shallowness, compared to the cave complex, made for particularly poor collagen preservation and, hence, for failed samples or rejected results.…”

Section: The Rock-cut Tombmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…In the conventional chronological scheme, these are the Għar Dalam, Grey Skorba and Red Skorba phases (Evans 1971;Trump 2002). The succeeding Żebbuġ phase, conventionally assigned to the latest fifth and earliest fourth millennium cal BC, represents the emergence of more complex social organisation on Malta, associated with characteristic rock-cut tombs containing collective burials, imported axes and obsidian and distinctive pottery (Malone et al 1995;Trump 2002). The development of this cultural phase gradually leads into what is known as the Temple culture or period (Pace 2000;Skeates 2010, 24) (Table 1).…”

Section: Island Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Island questions: the chronology of the Brochtorff Circle at Xagħra, Gozo, and its significance for the Neolithic sequence on Malta

Malone

Cutajar

McLaughlin

et al. 2019

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Bayesian chronological modelling of radiocarbon dates from the Brochtorff Circle at Xagħra, Gozo, Malta (achieved through the ToTL and FRAGSUS projects), provides a more precise chronology for the sequence of development and use of a cave complex. Artefacts show that the site was in use from the Żebbuġ period of the late 5th/early 4th millennium cal BC to the Tarxien Cemetery phase of the later 3rd/early 2nd millennia cal BC. Absolutely dated funerary activity, however, starts with a small rockcut tomb, probably in use in the mid to late fourth millennium cal BC, in the Ġgantija period. After an interval of centuries, burial resumed on a larger scale, probably in the thirtieth century cal BC, associated with Tarxien cultural material, with the use of the cave for collective burial and other depositions, with a series of structures, most notably altar-like settings built from massive stone slabs, which served to monumentalise the space. This process continued at intervals until the deposition of the last burials, probably in the twenty-fourth century cal BC; ceremonial activity may have ended at this time or a little later, to be followed by occupation in the Tarxien Cemetery period. The implications for the development of Neolithic society on Malta are discussed, as well as the changing character of Neolithic Malta in comparison to contemporary communities in Sicily, peninsular Italy and southern Iberia. It is argued that underground settings and temples on Malta may have served to reinforce locally important values of cooperation and consensus, against a wider tide of differentiation and accumulation, but that there could also have been increasing control of the treatment of the dead through time. The end of the Maltese Neolithic is also briefly discussed.

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“…The Xagħra Circle complex contains two distinct burial spaces, dating from different phases of the late Neolithic, contained within an enclosing megalithic wall. At the southeast edge of the site is a rock-cut tomb comprising two chambers accessed by a central shaft, used in the Ġgantija period between 3600 and 3300 cal BC (Malone et al 1995(Malone et al , 2019. Following a hiatus in use, the hypogeum was constructed and a threshold of megalithic paving slabs leading into the complex were constructed in the Tarxien phase, by 2900 cal BC (Malone et al 2019).…”

Section: The Xagħra Circle Complexmentioning

confidence: 99%

Placing and remembering the dead in late Neolithic Malta: bioarchaeological and spatial analysis of the Xagħra Circle Hypogeum, Gozo

Thompson

Parkinson

McLaughlin³

et al. 2020

World Archaeology

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This paper integrates the results of recent bioarchaeological and spatial analyses at one of the largest collective burial sites in Europe, the Xagħra Circle Hypogeum on Gozo. This suite of new approaches has addressed demography, funerary practices, interactions with the dead, and the changing use of space. Modelling structural events and reconstructing funerary practices from 2900 to 2350 cal BC, we trace persistent variation and flexibility in the use of space over time. Taphonomic analysis shows that young individuals (from foetal age and above) were included within the burial space, and their depositions occasionally informed subsequent interments. Such results resonate beyond this site and enhance our understanding of society in third millennium BC Malta. We advance a model of broad accessibility to the burial space, strengthening emerging narratives of heterarchical social dynamics in the Maltese islands.

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Mortuary Ritual of 4th Millennium bc Malta: the Zebbug Period Chambered Tomb from the Brochtorff Circle at Xaghra (Gozo)

Cited by 14 publications

References 15 publications

Trace Elemental Characterization of Maltese Pottery from the Late Neolithic to Middle Bronze Age

Trace Elemental Characterization of Maltese Pottery from the Late Neolithic to Middle Bronze Age

Island questions: the chronology of the Brochtorff Circle at Xagħra, Gozo, and its significance for the Neolithic sequence on Malta

Placing and remembering the dead in late Neolithic Malta: bioarchaeological and spatial analysis of the Xagħra Circle Hypogeum, Gozo

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