The prehistoric pottery

Abstract

The excavations carried out by M. Murray between 1921 and 1927 in the area of the Borġ in-Nadur temple produced large amounts of pottery related to the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, thus testifying to the long life-history of this place and highlighting its importance for Maltese prehistory. Following the publication of a number of reports at the time of the excavations, and a partial inventory of the material in the 1950s, the evidence from the megalithic temple of Borġ in-Nadur was never looked at again, a fact which probably contributed towards a less than comprehensive knowledge about the Maltese Bronze Age. In 2007, eighty years after the end of the excavations, a research project was commenced, aimed at a reappraisal of all the finds coming from the temple, with particular emphasis on the Borġ in-Nadur pottery. The intention was to clarify the different phases of occupation of the site and to build a chronotypological sequence for the Borġ in-Nadur pottery production. In this contribution, the results achieved during that research exercise are presented.