AIAC_1159 - Zebbiegh (ZBH2006) - 2006The site lies approximately 40 metres south of St Anne\'s Church in Zebbiegh, and had been inspected following the approval of development permit PA 00098/06. The Superintendence had not been informed of this application. Initial inspection indicated the presence of a rock-cut feature filled with debris. Subsequent clearing and investigation has revealed an extensive cluster of significant features including a cave with man-made features, within which medieval ceramics were recovered, extensive quarrying with dimensioned stones still in situ (probably classical) and water management features including rock-cut channels and a large, irregular bell-shaped well. Excavation at the eastern end of the site has revealed surviving tracts of classical flooring, as well as extensive ash deposits including classical ceramics. Features identified include a pit full of ash deposit (probably a classical pottery kiln), associated \"post holes\" and structural features including brick embedded in cut bedrock, tracts of flooring, runs of masonry and a large worked block probably in situ. The limits of the investigation were defined by the limits of the property marked for development. Nevertheless, it is evident that features extend to the east of the property and possibly to the north.
AIAC_941 - Zebbiegh - 2006The site was identified by officers of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage in the course of an inspection of an ongoing construction site. The first feature to be identified at the site was a subterranean, rock cut chamber and signs of surface quarrying activity. The investigation was subsequently extended to the surrounding areas, uncovering a sequence of rock-cut and masonry features covering an area of 10 by 20 meters. It is however clear that the site is much more extensive than the area investigated in the course of ZBH2006.
The site lies on a strategic ridge which dominates a network of roads linking the lands of Mgarr to the east with the Pwales plain and coastline to the west. It is also an important junction in the network of inland routes which leads from Mdina and the centre of Malta northward towards the Mellieha area. This important crossroad was occupied since the Neolithic and Bronze Age, as attested by the extensive village remains and megalithic structure at Skorba. The present investigation (ZBH2006) has established the existence of significant rural settlements at this cross road even during the Late Hellenistic and Medieval periods.
Phase 1: In the Early Roman period the site consisted of a large, level, open space, possibly rectangular in shape and cut into the rocky side of the ridge. A large hemi-spherical cistern was cut within this open space or yard.
To the SE of this area were uncovered a sequence of features, including rock-cut pits, rectangular basins and channelling. The more important of these features was the base of a kiln's combustion chamber, measuring approximately 1.5 meters deep and 1m in diameter. Traces of the kiln’s superstructure were also found in situ. A second, much smaller kiln seems to have been built against the outside of the first kiln. Part of a rectangular basin or vat with its interior surface covered in a hydraulic plaster was found immediately to the south of the kiln. This complex extends to the east where masonry remains begin to emerge.
This complex is being interpreted as an area of industrial activity, possibly a ceramist's workshop. Should this interpretation be confirmed, ZBH2006 would be the first such ancient industrial installation to be archaeologically identified and investigated in the Maltese islands.
The kiln complex was found sealed under an extensive deposit of black, ashy
earth and stones. This dump contained a rich assortment of Early Roman ceramics in a clear state of primary deposition. The ceramics included a variety of Late Punic amphorae (Types Mana C1 and C2), the Lamboglia 2 and Dressel 1 amphorae, as well as Early Roman Maltese amphorae Type Bruno 1, recently identified . This amphora horizon indicates that the deposition of the stratum (and the consequent abandonment of the kilns) should be dated to between the end of the 2nd and the 1st Century BC. This date is further confirmed by the presence of Black glazed ware A and C (and its local imitations), a fragment of a Hellenistic Megarian bowl and a cooking dish of the Pompeian Red Ware (the ceramic assemblages are currently under study by Bruno, B., Quercia, A. and Cutajar, N).
Phase 2: Late Medieval
The occupation of the site during Late Antiquity is only attested by some residual sherds. Of particular note are a fragment of an Gaza Type amphora and some fragments of Sigillata Africana D which suggest the site was re-occupied by an early Byzantine settlement between the 6th and 7th Cent AD.
However the site seems to have subsequently hosted a significant Late Middle Ages re-settlement. This phase of occupation is best documented by the fill of the spherical Early Roman cistern referred to earlier. The fill consisted of an organic earth mixed with rubble and domestic refuse. The ceramic assemblage recovered from this fill included various reconstructable vessels of Sicilian Proto-Maiolica Monochroma Bruno. The maiolica forms belonging to this class are closely comparable to material recovered from Brucato which has been dated to the first half of the 14th Century. The ceramic assemblage from this fill also included a range of local, handmade coarse-wares (mainly of open forms), including vessels with painted decorations and others with a red slip.
This evidence for a Late Medieval occupation at Zebbiegh can be tentatively associated with the establishment of new rural estates or fiefs in the inner reaches of the Mgarr Valley by the early Aragonese period. From documentary sources it is known that by the early 16th Century these estates at Zebbiegh had passed into the possession of noble families such as those of Cassia and Cumbo, who were also responsible for the foundation of Zebbiegh's earliest documented chapel, namely that of the Nativity of the Virgin. The 14th Cent deposits at ZBH2006 seem to document an early stage in this process of re-occupation of the landscape in the Late Medieval period.