Monitoring of works at the site of a proposed Citadel car park, where remains of an ancient wall have been unearthed, followed international protocol, the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage said.

The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage was contacted after readers, who are keeping a watchful eye on the works, expressed concern about the use of mechanical shovels to dig trenches as part of archaeological excavations.

A reader also commented they had seen several pottery remains that had not been collected and catalogued.

READ: Ancient walls uncovered just outside Ċittadella

Superintendent Anthony Pace told this newspaper that the Superintendence adopted technical standards that were used in “several places around the world”.

“Each individual site is treated on its own merits and is accorded specific monitoring terms of reference. It is impossible to pick and catalogue all pottery fragments encountered at the surface of a site.

“Representative samples are collected and kept,” he said.

His comments come after remains of two walls, tentatively dated to the Punic period, were found just outside the Citadel.

The discovery was made in test trenches during controlled monitoring of works off Triq Sant’ Ursola, as part of a second phase of archaeological excavations.

Dr Pace, meanwhile, noted that ceramics found in securely sealed deposits from stratified layers were “far more important” than surface pottery fragments.

Such fragments, he said, could provide key dating information.

“Provided that enough resources are available, sampled pottery fragments are individually washed and labelled. This preparation is labour intensive and normally requires several days.”

Asked about the use of excavators, Dr Pace said that the Superintendence allowed the removal of superficial soil and debris by mechanical earthmovers. The area just off Castle Hill Street is full of surface soil debris dumped there in the 1950s.

Authorisation to use mechanical earthmovers in such cases is given on a case-by-case basis, depending on the nature of the site. Normally, he explained, authorised mechanical earthmovers were required to have toothless buckets and rubber wheels or tracks.

In certain circumstances, steel tracks were more practical for safety purposes. Without such machinery, several tonnes of earth would have to be removed by hand, which is not feasible.

Dr Pace noted that mechanical earthmovers have been used on several archaeological sites in Malta since the 1980s – a practice also used abroad.

They were used at the new Kirkop school where a number of Punic tombs were saved and at the recently rebuilt wing of the Rabat primary school, where about 90 Punic and Roman tombs were also discovered.

They were also used during the Valletta City Gate and Coast Road projects and earlier for excavations at the Xagħra Stone Circle, which back then was supervised by the late David Trump.

In each case, the process is closely monitored and was done in controlled stages. Trenches were then inspected and examined by hand.

Questioned about the status of the planning applications given the recent discoveries, Dr Pace said: “The situation and status of these are being reviewed at the moment.

“Given the current developments, the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage is not yet in a position to comment further.”

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