Medieval Malta: Abandoned Villages, Chapels and Farmhouses

130 Pages·2015·21.91 MB·English

by  David Gene Hahs

Florida State University Libraries
Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School
2010
Medieval Malta: Abandoned Villages,
Chapels and Farmhouses
David G. Hahs
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THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

MEDIEVAL MALTA: ABANDONED VILLAGES, CHAPELS
AND FARMHOUSES

By
DAVID G. HAHS

A Thesis submitted to the
Department of Anthropology
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts

Degree Awarded:
Fall Semester, 2010
The members of the committee approve the thesis of David G. Hahs defended on July 19, 2010.

____________________________
Glen H. Doran
Professor Directing Thesis

____________________________
Joseph F. Donoghue
Committee Member

____________________________
Rochelle A. Marrinan
Committee Member

Approved:
___________________________________________
Glen H. Doran, Chair, Department of Anthropology

___________________________________________
Joseph Travis, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences

The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my family for supporting me throughout my many years of research
and travel throughout the world. I would like to thank Andrew J. Burns and Ben J. Gabert for
encouraging me to keep going when I wanted to give up. I would also like to thank John Bintliff
of Leiden University and Nicholas Vella from the University of Malta for introducing me to the
joys of Medieval Malta to begin with. Last but not least I would like to thank Glen Doran for
giving me a chance to complete and defend my research.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Figures ..................................................................................................................................v
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ix

INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................1

CHAPTER 1 – HISTORICAL BACKGROUND .......................................................................7
Geography ........................................................................................................................................7
Arabic occupation (870 – 1090) ......................................................................................................7
The Norman‟s and Frederick II (1090 – 1282) ................................................................................8
Spanish (1282 – 1530) ...................................................................................................................10
The Knights of St. John (1530 – 1798) ..........................................................................................11

CHAPTER 2 – AGRICULTURE, POPULATION, AND GOVERNMENT .........................12
Agriculture .....................................................................................................................................12
Population ......................................................................................................................................14
Government....................................................................................................................................16

CHAPTER 3 – FARMHOUSES, CHAPELS, AND TOWN PLANNING .............................17
Early Architecture… ......................................................................................................................17
Early Farmhouses ...........................................................................................................................21
Medieval Churches ........................................................................................................................26
Town Planning ...............................................................................................................................36

CHAPTER 4 – LOST VILLAGES, ELITE HOUSING, AND VALETTA ...........................41
Village Abandonment ....................................................................................................................41
Elite Housing and Valetta ..............................................................................................................55

CHAPTER 5 – ETHNOGRAPHY AND CERAMIC TYPOLOGIES ...................................63
Ethnography ...................................................................................................................................63
Maltese Ceramics: Neolithic through Historic ..............................................................................66
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CHAPTER 6 – SURVEY AND CONCLUSIONS.....................................................................81
Malta Field Survey 2005 ................................................................................................................81
Field Survey Methodology ............................................................................................................82
Field Survey Summaries ................................................................................................................89
Standing Structures Survey ..........................................................................................................129
Medieval Chapels.........................................................................................................................129
Farmhouse Survey .......................................................................................................................132
Conclusions ..................................................................................................................................137
APPENDIX ..................................................................................................................................140
REFERENCES CITED ................................................................................................................154
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................................157

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 - Map of Malta (www.fairdealproperties.com.mt) ............................................................6
Figure 2 - Girna Scattered Across the Landscape (Fsadni 1999) ..................................................18
Figure 3 - Square Girna (Fsadni 1999) ..........................................................................................19
Figure 4 - Oval Girna (Fsadni 1999)..............................................................................................20
Figure 5 - All Stone Building System Used in Malta (Tonna 1989) .............................................22
Figure 6 - Farmhouse Showing Organization of Space (Tonna 1989) ..........................................25
Figure 7 - Saint Michael, “Is-Sancier” (Kilin 2000) ......................................................................29
Figure 8 - The Annunciation at Hal Millieri (Kilin 2000) .............................................................30
Figure 9 - St. John the Evangelist at Hal Millieri (Kilin 2000) .....................................................32
Figure 10 - St. Mary of Birmiftuh in Gudja (Kilin 2000) ..............................................................33
Figure 11 - Saint Mary of Hal Xluq in Siggiewi (Kilin 2000) .......................................................34
Figure 12 - St. Gregory‟s in Zejtun (Kilin 2000) ...........................................................................35
Figure 13 - The Savior at Zejtun (Kilin 2000) ...............................................................................36
Figure 14 - Maltese Settlement Plans (Tonna 1989) .....................................................................37
Figure 15 - Row House types built in Valetta (Tonna 1989) .........................................................40
Figure 16 – Villages Deserted Before 1419 (Blouet 1978) ...........................................................45
Figure 17 – Villages Deserted Between 1419 and 1530 (Blouet 1978) ........................................46
Figure 18 – Villages Deserted Between 1530 and 1800 (Blouet 1978) ........................................47
Figure 19 - Positions of Fiefs and Villages (Blouet 1978) ............................................................54
Figure 20 – Two Light Windows Palazzo Gatto Murina (Tonna 1970) ........................................59
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Figure 21 – Two Light Window Palazzo Falzon (Tonna 1970) ....................................................60
Figure 22 – Malta Survey Area (Google Earth 2010) ....................................................................83
Figure 23 – Survey Area 1 (Google Earth 2010) ...........................................................................84
Figure 24 – Survey Area 2 (Google Earth 2010) ...........................................................................85
Figure 25 – Survey Area 3 (Google Earth 2010) ...........................................................................86
Figure 26 – Survey Area 4 (Google Earth 2010) ...........................................................................86
Figure 27 – Map of Village Abandonment (Wettinger 1975) .......................................................88
Figure 28 – Ghemieri (Google Earth 2010) ...................................................................................89
Figure 29 – Ghemieri Hilltop and Field Survey Area (Hahs 2005) ...............................................90
Figure 30 – Number of ceramic shards from Ghemieri .................................................................91
Figure 31 – Ceramic shard percentages from Ghemieri (n=210) ..................................................91
Figure 32 – Tartarni (Google Earth 2010) .....................................................................................92
Figure 33 – Hal Tartarni Red Soil and Well (Hahs 2005) .............................................................93
Figure 34 – Hal Tartarni Well and Rocky Clearing (Hahs 2005) ..................................................93
Figure 35 – Hal Tartarni Ceramic Scatters (Hahs 2005) ...............................................................94
Figure 36 – Number of ceramic shards from Hal Tartarni ............................................................95
Figure 37 – Ceramic shard percentages from Hal Tartarni (n=73) ................................................95
Figure 38 – Hal Muxi (Google Earth 2010)...................................................................................96
Figure 39 – Hal Muxi Survey Area (Hahs 2005) ...........................................................................97
Figure 40 – Number of ceramic shards from Hal Muxi… .............................................................98
Figure 41 – Ceramic shard percentages from Hal Muxi (n=236) ..................................................98
vii
Figure 42 – Hal Dwin (Google Earth 2010) ..................................................................................99
Figure 43 – Hal Dwin Field and Farmhouse (Hahs 2005) ...........................................................100
Figure 44 – Hal Dwin Surface Scatter (Hahs 2005) ....................................................................101
Figure 45 – Hal Mula (Google Earth 2010) .................................................................................101
Figure 46 – Hal Mula Survey Area (Hahs 2005) .........................................................................102
Figure 47 – Hal Farrug (Google Earth 2010)...............................................................................103
Figure 48 – Hal Farrug Junk Yards and Survey Field (Hahs 2005) ............................................104
Figure 49 – Hal Xlug (Google Earth 2010) .................................................................................105
Figure 50 – First Survey Field (Hahs 2005) ................................................................................106
Figure 51 – Onion Storage Shed (Hahs 2005) .............................................................................107
Figure 52 – Number of ceramic shards from Hal Xlug ...............................................................108
Figure 53 – Ceramic shard percentages from Hal Xlug (n=382).................................................108
Figure 54 – Hal Qdieri (Google Earth 2010) ...............................................................................109
Figure 55 – Hal Qdieri Survey Area and Artifacts (Hahs 2005) .................................................110
Figure 56 – Ta‟Harmanin (Google Earth 2010) ..........................................................................110
Figure 57 - Ta‟Harmanin Backdirt Pile and Artifacts (Hahs 2005) .............................................111
Figure 58 - Ta‟Harmanin Farmhouse (Hahs 2005)… ..................................................................112
Figure 59 - Number of ceramics shards from Ta Harmanin ........................................................113
Figure 60 – Ceramic shard percentages from Ta Harmanin (n=34) ............................................113
Figure 61 – Hal Kbir (Google Earth 2010) ..................................................................................114
Figure 62 - Hal Kbir Artifacts and Survey Field (Hahs 2005) ....................................................115
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Figure 63 – Hal Kbir Abandoned Farmhouse (Hahs 2005) .........................................................116
Figure 64 – Hal Kbir Artifacts in situ (Hahs 2005) .....................................................................117
Figure 65 – Number of ceramic shards from Hal Kbir ................................................................117
Figure 66 – Ceramic shard percentages from Hal Kbir (n=102) .................................................118
Figure 67 – Hal Niklusi (Google Earth 2010) .............................................................................119
Figure 68 – San Niklusi Chapel and Surrounding Fields (Hahs 2005) ........................................120
Figure 69 – Hal Lew (Google Earth 2010) ..................................................................................121
Figure 70 – Hal Lew Survey Area and Fireworks Display (Hahs 2005) .....................................122
Figure 71 – Examples of local red ware (Hahs 2010) .................................................................124
Figure 72 – Examples of imported earthenware (Hahs 2010) .....................................................124
Figure 73 – Examples of burnished ware (Hahs 2010) ................................................................125
Figure 74 - Number of ceramic shards from All Sites .................................................................125
Figure 75 – Ceramic shard percentages from All Sites (n=1037) ...............................................126
Figure 76 – Ceramic shard types distribution for All Sites .........................................................126
Figure 77 – Il Maqluba Chapel (Hahs 2005) ...............................................................................129
Figure 78 - Tal-Hniena Chapel and Artifacts (Hahs 2005) ..........................................................130
Figure 79 – St. Michael “Is-Sancier” (Hahs 2005) ......................................................................131
Figure 80 – San Blas Farmhouse Front Entrance (Hahs 2005) ...................................................132
Figure 81 – San Blas Farm Ceiling and Rear Exterior (Hahs 2005) ...........................................133
Figure 82 – Farmhouse West of San Blas Chapel (Hahs 2005) ..................................................133
Figure 83 – Building With Eroded Stairwell (Hahs 2005) ..........................................................134
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