Domus Romana - unanswered questions

Professor Anthony Bonanno will be giving a lecture, in Italian, at the Italian Cultural Institute, Valletta, tomorrow at 6.30 p.m., entitled "La Domus Romana di Rabat: cento domande, mille risposte", which is open to all.

In February 1881 an extraordinary archaeological discovery was made in Rabat, just outside Mdina's Greeks' Gate. A series of very fine mosaics were uncovered, separated by foundation walls delineating rooms and a colonnaded courtyard. Within a year, these archaeological treasures were brought to light, had a protective building erected over them, and were opened to visitors for a fee: prima facie, a remarkable feat of heritage management, even by our standards. The same, however, cannot be said for the method of archaeological investigation.

The whole operation was conducted by untrained personnel, both workmen and directors. No proper record was kept of find-spots of different objects, less so of stratification (the deposition of archaeological layers). As a result, we can only make general assumptions on the two major periods represented by the remains: a Roman townhouse built in the first century BC, surviving in the first century AD, and the conversion of the accumulated debris on the site into a Muslim cemetery in the 12th century.

The situation was further complicated by more excavations on the same site in the 1920s and by subsequent movements of excavated objects, both for purposes of protection in World War II and successive refurbishing of the museum which was, in the meantime, built on site. It is now extremely difficult, in some cases impossible, to tell which material formerly exhibited in the previous museum belong to the domus, which objects were retrieved in the excavations of the buildings to the north and west of it, and which material was brought in from other sites in Rabat.

The title of Professor Bonanno's lecture, which will be introduced by Dr Nicholas Vella, reflects the great number of unanswered questions raised by this archaeological icon of Malta's cultural heritage. In prehistory it is only parallelled by the Hal Saflieni hypogeum, excavated a quarter of a century later. Professor Bonanno will deliver a presentation of some of the problems faced by archaeologists in their efforts to make head or tail of the data. This will be followed by a general discussion.