The MaltaPot Project has contributed to knowledge on early Neolithic pottery found in the Maltese Islands, but there is still a wide extent of research which can be carried out, on the same sample set; on other material from the early Neolithic; on pottery from later periods in Maltese prehistory and history; and on experimental archaeology.
Furthermore, data and materials from the project can be used for projects on image analysis, chemistry, biology, data analysis, data management, media studies, statistics and other disciplines.
Research project areas for undergraduate and postgraduate studies can be identified for students from different courses, including archaeology, science, engineering, information technology and other areas.
Investigation of the fabric of Roman period pottery sherds found in the Maltese Islands – identification of a suitable sample set, characterization by optical microscopy, polarized light microscopy, X-Ray Diffraction, compilation of image and data set for an online depository.
Profiling clay from the Maltese Islands – an in-depth analysis of clay, including sampling using coring method; separating clay from other materials; analysis to identify clay minerals.
Detailed characterization of pottery – detecting trace elements and comparing these to clay. These can be a more in depth analysis of the subset of 54 analysed in MaltaPot, or (if permission for destructive analysis is obtained), an extension to further samples from the full sample set.
Experimental archaeology – producing clay/water/temper blends, drying and firing under different conditions. Design of experiment and limitation of a very wide range of parameters. Firing would be followed by detailed analysis of pottery samples produced and comparison to clay and to Neolithic sherds. Variations of possible parameters (clay source, temper, temper size, temper proportion, firing temperature, firing atmosphere etc.) can support a number of projects or dissertations.
Depth profiling – determining firing composition variation with depth. This can be applied to the results of experimental archaeology and also to the Neolithic sample set, subject to permit in the case of destructive analysis.
If you are interesting in carrying out research based on MaltaPot and derived topics, write to us (maltapot@um.edu.mt) at the Department of Classics and Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, University of Malta.
Please indicate in your communication:
Your affiliation to a University or school, indicating the Department
Your area of interest
The level of study you are/wish to be engaged in
If you are already engaged in a research project, please include an endorsement by your supervisor.
Terms and conditions of use may be applied. In all instances, MaltaPot Project, funded by a European Union Marie Sklodowska Curie grant, would have to be acknowledged by any use made of the data
