Evidence of ritual practices from the animal remains found in the Juno Sanctuary at Tas Silg, Malta

This paper describes the study of an animal bone assemblage from a tank (the so called ‘Tank 52’) recovered at the Phoenician and Punic Sanctuary of Tas-Silġ on Malta. During the 2nd and 1st centuriesBC, the tank was used for ablution practise and then it was filled up with ceramics and animal bones. Archaeological excavation carried out in 1968 by the late lamented Prof. A. Ciasca brought to light a large amount of animal remains, which have been analysed in detail here. The remains mostly belong to sheep and goat and precious families of fishes, such as Sparidae, Serranidae and Scaridae. Results from an analysis using Gas-chromatography suggests that fish carcasses were probably processed and eaten on site. Mollusc remains belong to Cerastoderma, Tapes and Cuttlefish. Several spines of sea-urchin and crab chelae were also found. Moreover, it should be highlighted that there is almost a total absence of pig remains, since this animal was considered impure in the Semitic region from which the Phoenicians came. The Romans evidently excluded the pig from the hostiae animales in order to respect the religious sensitivity of indigenous people.