Images of Indiana Jones cracking a whip are rife in the heads of most people. To them archaeology means swinging on ropes and discovering an enormous treasure while wearing a fedora! Professor Anthony Bonanno smiles ruefully and comments, “A whip is unnecessary and enormous treasure is hard to come by, however a fedora or some other sort of head covering is required when on site in a scorching Maltese summer.” Interview by Maria Giuliana Fenech

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Professor Anthony Bonanno is Malta’s foremost archaeologist. His archaeological work has spanned various eras and he is also responsible for setting up a Department of Archaeology at the University of Malta. However, Professor Bonanno did not always have archaeology on his mind.

He says, “As a young boy, aged 12 or 13, I would often go on outings with my friends. We would visit places like Hagar Qim, but I don’t think anyone of us would show a special appreciation for them or understand the real meaning of these monuments. I suppose that at that time this reflected the general Maltese mentality which sometimes takes the presence of all these monuments for granted.

“Even when I entered University, I still did not study archaeology, simply because it was not available. Instead I studied Latin. I overcame the hurdle of never having studied Latin and I did well in my intermediate exams. In fact Professor Edward Coleiro, noticing my aptitude, encouraged me to study Latin, along with French and Italian.

“Eventually I upgraded my degree to B.A. (Hons) in Latin with Greek. But already, during that year, I saw the writing on the wall. Latin had been removed from the Church Liturgy and therefore its involvement in society was waning. The study of archaeology was already being identified as a necessity by the University authorities.

“When I was awarded a scholarship to the University of Palermo, my studies were definitely slanted towards Classical Archaeology and I can say that it was while reading for my D. Lett in Palermo that I got my first training in archaeology. I was in Palermo during the Student Revolutions. I spent three years in Palermo and month-long faculty occupation was a regular ritual.”

Back in Malta, Prof. Bonanno was presented with two options. He passed the required exams and was appointed Assistant Curator at the Museums Department; however he renounced the appointment and instead took up a lecturing position at the University of Malta. “Nevertheless,” Professor Bonanno adds, “it still was not possible to teach archaeology as a main area of study. I started teaching in March 1971 and this coincided with a change in government. I was appointed with the proviso that I furthered my studies. I was awarded a second scholarship, this time to read for a PhD at the Institute of Archaeology in London. While I was in London, the very existence of a University of Malta was being questioned by the Maltese government.

“Eventually, these thoughts were put on a back burner. I upheld my teaching duties while reading for my PhD, which I completed in 1975. In 1979, University was given a complete overhaul. The Student Worker Scheme was introduced and two major faculties – Arts and Sciences – were suppressed. The Faculty of Theology moved elsewhere.

“Luckily, most lecturers were retained and I serviced the Faculty of Education.” This long and winding road to the setting up of Archaeology as a teaching subject finally came to an end with the change of government in 1987. Professor Bonanno says, “I started out on my own. Two students had specifically requested to have Archaeology as a subject. In the beginning I could not offer Archaeology as a full Honours course, but eventually with the appointment of Professor Anthony Frendo, who had a different specialisation, and with the help of other colleagues, we could offer a full course of studies which would lead to a B.A. (Hons) in Archaeology.

“Eventually, Dr Nicholas Vella, one of our first students, also joined the Department. Spread over three years, we now have more than 40 students. Sometimes, we have 30 first year students. This year, 2008/09 has proved particularly exceptional. We have 16 final year students, eight of whom are reading for an Honours degree.” Professor Bonanno’s work is not confined to the lecture room. Frequent fieldwork is a must for all archaeologists. His first experience of fieldwork was in Palermo. “As a student in Palermo, I joined the yearly excavation campaigns on the site of the ancient Greek city of Himera. The Italian methods of excavation were different to the Anglo-Saxon ones and so I chose to further my studies in England to be exposed to both.

“During my studies in London, a new site was accidentally discovered in Libya. For two summers I moved to Benghazi where the Society of Libyan Studies was undertaking a full scale excavation. At Benghazi, we had our own residence where we also had to do our own cooking. It was very hot, but the heat was more bearable than that in Malta as it was a dry heat. We excavated a section of Berenike, a Hellenistic/Roman city named after the wife of Ptolemy III. We had quite a few special finds over there, including the remains of an early Christian church and extensive Roman mosaics.

“I was not involved in the Italian excavations at Tas-Silg; however I remember speaking with the archaeologists working there whenever I came down to Malta. I should add once more, that a real archaeologist’s work is very different to the Indiana Jones representation of archaeology. Our work is extremely slow and methodical. Archaeology is essentially a humanistic discipline with a scientific methodology.”

In Malta, archaeology was also being given more importance. In 1985, before the end of the aforementioned crisis for the Faculty of Arts, the then Rector of the University, Professor George Xuereb, tried to revive the study of archaeology and made it possible for me to organise a conference which brought together very important personalities in the fields of Prehistory, as well as Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology. During this conference, Dr David Trump, who had excavated in Malta in the early 60s, and Professor Colin Renfrew identified the possibility of a research expedition in Gozo. After a lot of negotiations, the Gozo Project came to be.

This was a joint project between the University of Malta, Cambridge University and the Maltese Museums Department. The excavation of a minor site was completed in the first campaign of 1987. Nonetheless, it was a pivotal campaign as it uncovered the remains of two prehistoric residential huts at Mgarr Road, Ghajnsielem. Previously, traces of domestic architecture belonging to the Temple Period had been very scanty.

“This project also involved an eight-year campaign, from 1987 to 1994, at the Xaghra Stone Circle. This was also very fruitful as our work revealed a subterranean cemetery, similar to the Hypogeum. This cemetery, in contrast to the man-made Hypogeum, consisted of a series of underground natural caves utilised for an extensive cemetery.

“Of course I enjoy fieldwork and its explorative nature. The very action of extracting evidence from the ground is enjoyable. Notwithstanding that, I derive equal satisfaction from discoveries made on desk, and from the study and assessment of finds and the search for parallelisms and similarities to other finds.

“As an archaeologist, I do not view my fieldwork, lecturing and heritage management in isolation. I think these pursuits are all intrinsically linked. Overseas, heritage managers often participate in full scale archaeological excavations and I believe this is admirable. Fieldwork is an excellent opportunity for students as they can experience archaeology firsthand. Fieldwork also provides excellent training for these budding archaeologists.”

Professor Bonanno has also been intimately involved with Din l-Art Helwa. In his own words, “I have been with Din l-Art Helwa for donkey’s years. I have played a part in various stands such as the one against quarrying activity for ‘Maltese marble’ less than 100 metres away from Mnajdra.

“Din l-Art Helwa was the first NGO specifically set up with the Maltese Heritage in mind and I believe that at present it is held in high respect. Heritage is pivotal in creating an identity. We cannot call ourselves a nation if we do not have a proper regard for our history.”

Whenever a large project is planned, an assessment is now required and a satisfactory compromise is hopefully reached. When the airstrip was extended, these assessments were not possible and some important remains were reported by an Italian newspaper to have been destroyed. We now work to prevent similar occurrences.

Professor Bonanno was also a founder member, together with Professor Anthony De Bono, of the Archaeology Society. “This society is relatively young. Professor De Bono had approached me to set up an archaeological society, to assist the Archaeology Department of the University of Malta and the Museums Department in their respective roles. Together we drew up a statute and since then the Archaeological Society has been very active.

“We organise monthly lectures and excursions. We occasionally also raise our voice when there is a possible threat to archaeological sites, such as the recent case involving a series of significant ancient tombs near tal-Barrani Road, which were threatened by a projected private hospital.

“I think archaeological awareness has grown dramatically, although there is obviously more room for growth. The importance of archaeology in relation to tourism further helped to bolster its value. So archaeology is also very important from an economic standpoint. Leading international archaeologists have highlighted Malta’s outstanding archaeological significance.

Despite recent discoveries of more ancient religious structures in Turkey, Malta can still be said to have the oldest free standing stone temples.

“I think that Malta can still offer new discoveries. The most likely one would be another hypogeum. The Tarxien temples have a visual relationship with the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, and there is an underground cemetery at Xaghra in relation to the Ggantija temples; it stands to reason that the temples at Hagar Qim and Mnajdra might have another one in their vicinity. A non-invasive remote-sensing exploration would be the first stage to undertake.

“I believe that a lot of progress has been made in the educational field but we cannot afford being complacent. Greater awareness of our archaeological heritage is required; more pride of their identity can thus be instilled in the Maltese younger generations.”