Tas-Silg, on the south-east coast of the island of Malta, is a major
multi-period site, with archaeological remains spanning four thousand
years. A megalithic temple complex built in the early third millennium
BC gave way to a Phoenician and Punic sanctuary dedicated to the goddess
Astarte. The sacred place underwent major transformations in Roman
times, becoming an international religious complex dedicated to the
goddess Juno. Located on the maritime routes plied by mariners and
traders, its fame did not escape the attention of the first-century BC
orator Cicero. Excavated as part of a major archaeological project in
the 1960s, the site of Tas-Silg lay abandoned for several decades. In
1996, the University of Malta renewed excavations at the site for ten
seasons, uncovering Neolithic and Late Bronze Age occupation levels, and
substantial deposits associated with ritual offerings of Punic date.
This volume is the first monograph of the final publication of the
excavations. It provides an account of those excavations and of the
studies which accompanied them, including the lithic assemblages, the
figurative representations, scarabs and amulets, the worked stone, the
coins, and environmental analyses. It forms a companion volume to the
second monograph, which reports on the pottery and the inscribed pottery.