Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons^™

Trade, Interaction And Change: Trace Elemental Characterization Of Maltese Neolithic To Middle Bronze Age Ceramics Using A Portable X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer, Frederick S. Pirone

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The insular nature of the Maltese archipelago provides a unique opportunity to explore trade and cultural change from the Neolithic to the Bronze Ages in the central Mediterranean. I hypothesize that, during the period in which the Maltese islands were experiencing a form of isolation—owing either to their distance from Sicily and other populated regions, to the collective formation of an inwardly-focused culture, or to a combination of these factors—it is unlikely that pottery played a significant role as either an import or export in the archipelago’s exchange relationships with other communities in the central Mediterranean. I accordingly propose that …