THE DEVELOPMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS IN MALTA IN THE EARLY 1900S
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2020-12-14

Sir Themistocles Zammit, known as the father of Maltese archaeology, was the first appointed Curator of The Museum in 1903. Amongst his multitude of appointments and achievements especially in the medical field, he was then placed in charge of a collection of antiquities, the origins of which dated back to the first half of the seventeenth century, and which were dispersed throughout the island. As Zammit himself pointed out in the first annual report of The Museum in 1904, the collection, recognised throughout the years for its historic and archaeological importance, had to be re-evaluated. It had to be increased and reorganised in a way to make it accessible to the public and not just the scholars.

This paper will trace the history of archaeology from 1903 until Zammit passed away in 1935 by then holding the position of Director of the Museums Department. Using Zammit’s field notebooks as a departing point of reference, this research will give us an overview of his methodology of recording the numerous sites he visited, excavated or supervised. It will also give us a glimpse of curatorial decisions made; which sites were recorded much more meticulously than others; which featured in the Museum’s annual reports; why were some artefacts bought from the land owners and why were others not deemed worth acquiring; his systematic storage techniques and his display methods.


Author(s): Sultana, Sharon (Heritage Malta)