The recently held 10th International Congress on Phoenician and Punic Studies saw the participation of Prof Timmy Gambin and Maja Sausmekat from the Underwater Cultural Heritage Unit (UCHU) and David Cardona, Senior Curator Phoenician, Roman & Medieval Sites. The conference was held between 17 and 21 October 2022 at the Ibiza Congress Centre. It was organised by the Consell de Ibiza and the Archaeological Museum of Ibiza and Formentera in association with the Government of the Balearic Islands.

Professor Timmy Gambin and Maja Sausmekat presented “A Punic wreck site off the coast of Gozo” in the session on Research Projects. The aim was to present the preliminary investigation of the Tower Wreck site, located outside Xlendi Bay, Gozo, at a depth of 105 metres. The Tower Wreck project was initiated by UCHU in 2021 and involves the photogrammetric documentation of a significant spread of archaeological material that primarily dates to the 3rd century BC. The material consists primarily of amphorae but also includes ceramic jugs, urns, and bowls. The presentation aimed to highlight how UCHU is documenting the site and future research avenues.

David Cardona presented his work “Landscapes of Death and Commemoration,” which combined data from his ongoing PhD and the Għajn Klieb Project being carried out in collaboration with the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and the Department of Classics and Archaeology within the University of Malta. In particular, he presented the preliminary tomb clusters from the Archaic Phoenician and the Punic periods in light of the new information being unearthed at the Għajn Klieb and similar projects. This tomb clustering is consequently starting to provide a settlement pattern that is slightly different from the traditional notion of continuous use of the Mdina/Rabat plateau from the Bronze Age up to modern times.

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