I. ABTEILUNG - Excavations at St. Paul’s Catacombs: New Evidence at an Old Site

Abstract

Excavations at St. Paul’s Catacombs: New Evidence at an Old Site Featuring more than 24 catacombs, the St. Paul’s Catacombs at Rabat have always been considered an important asset for Malta’s archaeological context. This paper gives a preliminary assessment of ongoing post-excavation work following extensive excavations carried out as part of Heritage Malta’s Archaeological Heritage Conservation Project between 2010 and 2015. These excavations revealed that the story of the site dates back to centuries before the first catacombs began to be dug. The initial human intervention at the area appears to have been as a quarry, possibly dating back to the Phoenician-Punic period. This quarry was subsequently used for the excavation of a number of shaft-and-chamber tombs and surface burials of cremated and infant inhumations. The Late Roman catacombs themselves were also part of the investigation; this article is an outline of the main discoveries within one of the excavated catacombs – catacomb 8. The underground burial site provided the largest amount of human bones and artefacts, which may give new insights into this period of the Maltese islands. This paper does not aim to give an exhaustive account or complete results, but instead outlines the highlights of these excavations and some of the preliminary interpretations.