Browsing by Autor "Sharon Sultana"

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    Item type: Item ,
    Copy or authentic?
    (2009) Daniel Vella; James Licari; Nicholas C. Vella; Sharon Sultana; Vanessa Ciantar
    The present work is a study of a Phoenician finger ring from the collection of the National Museum of Archaeology, Malta. The item was first described by the museum’s director Themistocles Zammit in 1925, and is believed to date to the 6th century BC. The ring consists of two stirrup-shaped hoops, which can be worn separately or fitted together and worn as a single piece. Inscribed on the bezel surface is a seafaring vessel. Zammit described the artefact as manufactured in pure gold, quoting its mass as 9.65 g. The ring in the collection fits Zammit’s description but differs significantly in weight. The aim of this paper is throw light on the authenticity of this ring using documentary sources and non-invasive scientific techniques of analysis. Optical and electron microscopy allowed a thorough description of the manufacturing technique, while the material analysis was conducted via energy dispersive spectrometry. As a result of these analyses, it was concluded that the ring is not authentic, but is most probably a copy, possibly commissioned by Zammit himself.
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    Item type: Item ,
    Island Questions: the chronology of the Brochtorff-Xaghra Circle Gozo, and its signficance for the Neolithic sequence of Malta
    (Queen's University Belfast, 2019) Alasdair Whittle; Caroline Malone; Nathaniel Cutajar; Rowan McLaughlin; Bernardette Mercieca Spiteri; Anthony Pace; Ronika K. Power; Simon Stoddart; Sharon Sultana; Christopher Bronk Ramsey
    Bayesian chronological modelling of radiocarbon dates from the Brochtorff Circle at<br/>Xagħra, Gozo, Malta (achieved through the ToTL and FRAGSUS projects), provides a<br/>more precise chronology for the sequence of development and use of a cave complex.<br/>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.