Apart from his 60 years’ experience in and deep knowledge of Malta’s archaeology, David Trump of Cambridge will be remembered for his unassuming and very approachable and expert human qualities. His writings are direct and candid, not lacking in modest humour.

About eight years ago, I called for him and for his wife Bridget to investigate a possible archaeological site at Ta’ Msid, lying behind the Riviera Hotel, in Marfa.

He readily produced a trowel and examined the soil in the area, producing a blank. Yet, I was impressed by his experience and his knowing skill. Lovers of Malta’s and Gozo’s archaeology await with alacrity the publication of his five posthumous pending works.

I am confident that, with his statement that no other country possesses the wealth of prehistoric remains as Malta and Gozo, he would not have been averse to calling our countries ‘sacred islands of the Stone Age’.