Xlendi and its Ancient Shipwrecks

This book, Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum’s first, is published in association with Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, and  describes the 1961 survey of the Xlendi wrecks which was led by John Woods, at the time a physics undergraduate and President of the Underwater Club at Imperial College London. He then spent the subsequent ten summers combining science and diving for the Royal Navy in Malta.

The narrative is complemented by original colour underwater photographs taken during the survey. The links to Palazzo Falson are strong as Olof Frederick Gollcher, who owned and lived in the Palazzo for many years of his life, was instrumental in enabling and guiding, together with the then Malta National Museum, this pioneering underwater exploration.

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CONTENTS

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PART I - XLENDI

The Mystery
Haven and Village
Looking back in time
The Xlendi Story

PART II  - Shipwrecks

Discovery and exploration
Mapping
Recovering artefacts
A Roman ship's last voyage

PART III - LEGACY

The amphorae
Analysis
Amphorae in Xlendi Bay
The next fifty years

Appendices

The Imperial College Expedition
Fifty years on