This article introduces a robust scientific methodological approach that has been effective on accurately sourcing prehistoric chert artefacts. The research focuses on the lithic assemblage of ...Skorba, a late Neolithic site of Malta, and local chert rock sources. This assemblage is mainly consisting of chert tools and artefacts, but the origin of the raw materials remains inconclusive. Although chert outcrops are reported on Malta, they have yet to be investigated and their petrological characteristics are unknown. Moreover, it was always assumed that nonlocal chert material has been only imported from Sicily. This, however, remains at a theoretical level and elaborate provenance research is necessary to test it. This archaeological background serves an excellent opportunity to employ an interdisciplinary methodology and address uncertainties that conventional archaeological practices seem unable to provide clear answers. This methodology includes geological techniques that focus on petrological and geochemical characteristics of chert formations. The collected results provide the necessary scientific evidence to connect some artefacts with their actual sources and provided useful information about the possible origin of others. This paper further aims to demonstrate the great prospects of this suite of techniques and its suitability for similar provenance studies of chert material worldwide.
This is an account of the excavation of Li Skorba, in the north-west of the isle of Malta, which took place between 1961 and 1963. Included are descriptions of artefacts such as pottery, bone and ...buildings, together with an account of the methodology used to unearth these.
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