Renowned archaeologist David H Trump, who contributed greatly to archaeology in Malta, died yesterday aged 85.

He first travelled to Malta in 1954, and worked with archaeologist John Evans on the Ggantija excavations. He also spent time serving as the curator at the National Museum of Archaeology in Malta.

He had written reports on the archaeology of the Skorba temples, in Rabat, and also worked on studies on the cart ruts found throughout Malta. He was, in 2004, honoured with the Order of Merit for his local contribution to archaeology.

Dr Trump was bestowed an honorary Doctor of Literature degree from the University of Malta just last year.

Dr Trump also taught abroad, at the University of Cambridge in the UK.