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<< News >> Maltese Government starts destroying archaeological site

Submitted by coldrum on Monday, 01 October 2007  Page Views: 4935

Site WatchCountry: Malta Wasteserv, government’s waste management company, ordered excavators to start digging up and clearing away an archaeological site at Tal-Kus, Gozo, to make way for the foundations of a waste transfer station.

On Friday a large excavator arrived on site, in Xewkija, and started digging down the rocky surface on which the archaeological remains lie. The Xewkija Local Council asked the court to intervene and stop the destruction, but the Wasteserv contractor only stopped for a few hours, and continued late in the afternoon of the same day.

On Saturday morning the contractor returned to the site with the excavator and continued cutting rocks on the archaeological site. When local councillors tried to stop him, the contractor walked away, only to return a few minutes later and continue working. Eventually police had to be called in to enforce the court order and put a stop to the contractor’s abuse.

Dr Monica Vella, the Xewkija mayor, explained that in July, the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, issued a detailed report to reconfirm that the importance of the site in question, and of the precious archaeological remains found in it. Yet, despite all this, Wasteserv persisted in its plans to build a Waste Transfer Station to process all of Gozo’s domestic waste.

In order to stop the excavators contracted by Wasteserv, the local council asked the Gozo Courts to issue a prohibitory injuction and stop Wasteserv from destroying the site. The courts temporarily accepted the request and asked the government company, and its contractors, to refrain from “carrying out excavation works, rock cutting, cleaning or other construction works in the Waste Transfer Station project.” The court will take a final decision on whether or not to uphold the prohibition of works, in the coming days.

In the meantime, maltastar.com is informed that officials from the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage are expected to visit the site in the coming days to inspect the damage.

maltastar.

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"Maltese Government starts destroying archaeological site" | Login/Create an Account | 2 News and Comments
  
Go back to top of page    Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
Re: Gozo rock holds ancient wine presses by coldrum on Wednesday, 13 January 2010
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Centuries ago, come September, galleys would be rowed into Mġarr ix-Xini harbour and loaded with amphorae filled with wine that had been pressed in the valley.

Winemakers would fill shallow basins with grapes and, once pressed, the juice would flow through holes and channels into a deeper collecting holder, all carved into the rock.

These wine presses, said to date back to 500 BC, can still be seen embedded in the Gozitan valley and are being studied and documented in a project carried out by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and the Sannat and Xewkija local councils with the support of Camilleri Wines.

Apart from safeguarding heritage, the project offers an interesting insight into Malta and Gozo's past.

"What is not seen today is that Mġarr ix-Xini valley was functioning as a main artery, as a seaport... It functioned as a huge agro-industrial area," explained Superintendent of Cultural Heritage Anthony Pace, who leads the project together with archaeologist George Azzopardi.

He explained how the presses, dug into the ground, were made of a shallow basin upon which an additional structure was mounted to press the grapes.

The juices would flow into the deeper basin and this motion was aided by the fact that the presses were built on an incline. Similar presses are present in Malta in the Mġarr Valley in and near Mnajdra, in an area known as Misqa tanks.

Such presses have also been identified in various parts of the world such as Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Greece, Turkey, Palestine, Syria and South Africa.

Mr Pace elaborated that winemakers would have minimised losses through seepage by first filling the basins with water so the rock would soak up the water. Excess water would then be removed shortly before pressing.

He said it was believed that, once pressed, the wine was collected in amphorae and shipped off to Sicily on galleys that came into the harbour.

Since the project started in 2005, 15 presses have been identified, documented and mapped. Pieces of pottery, including drinking glasses, were also found during excavation works that helped date the presses.

Next summer the second excavation will take place, with the help of students and volunteers. The next step, Mr Pace said, would be to publish the data.

On hearing about this project, which has revealed more about the history of local winemaking, Camilleri Wines wanted to support it through its Mystic Araar, vintage 2007.

For each of the 3,333 limited edition bottles produced, Camilleri Wines will donate €1 to the project, Claudio Camilleri, head of sales and marketing, said.

"Each year we would like to pitch our vintage towards corporate social responsibility and, this year, we're supporting cultural heritage," he said.

This is the second time Camilleri wines is producing the Mystic Araar wine.

The brand was launched in 2008 when the first batch of limited edition vintage 2006 wines were handed out to the winery's clients. The aim was to raise awareness about Malta's national tree which is in danger of extinction - the Sandarac gum tree, more commonly known as Is-Siġra tal-Għargħar, from where the brand gets its name.

That year the company had committed itself to plant 50 trees for three years.

Mystic Araar vintage 2007 - a blend of Syrah, Tempranillo and Merlot - can be bought for €25 a bottle and comes in a silver tin with an information leaflet about the Mġarr Ix-Xini project.


http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100112/local/gozo-rock-holds-ancient-wine-presses
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Re: Maltese Government starts destroying archaeological site by coldrum on Sunday, 18 November 2007
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Gozo concern

The Gozo heritage society Wirt Ghawdex has expressed its preoccupation at the readiness with which the Malta Environment and Planning Authority grants permits for development in areas of known archaeological significance on the island.

The recent approval of an application for the construction of a two-storey building with a pool in the vicinity of the Xaghra Stone Circle is a case in point.

So also is the Waste Transfer Station, which is to be sited in a disused quarry outside Xewkija. Excavations carried out by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and the Department of Archaeology of the University of Malta in the area known as Ghar ix-Xih, just a few metres away from the site, have now confirmed the presence of important archaeological remains dating back to classical times.

In both cases it is vital that the authority reviews its position, before it is too late.
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=58637
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