Iona Muscat

Research project

Summary of research project:

This research project discusses cultural property protection in the Mediterranean, focusing on the Maltese Islands, which host sites of UNESCO World Heritage status. Whilst significant milestones have been reached in the preservation of Maltese cultural property, there is a gap in the understanding of risks and threats posed by human action (such as conflict and vandalism). Heritage managers have emphasised the need for a values-based risk assessment of these sites which has never been done to date. Malta has very recently also acceded to the Hague Convention; however, the state has yet to take stock of how successful it has been in fulfilling its national and international obligations relating to the protection of its built heritage.

My research seeks to assess and determine the level of threat that Maltese cultural property is exposed to, given Malta’s position as a border country of the EU and a partner to NATO, and in light of the surrounding geopolitics. It will attempt to deliver a values-based risk assessment, that is, an evaluation of the risks to which the underlying values and significance of the monuments at stake are exposed. I intend to draw out risk maps and discern vulnerability patterns that can be geospatially understood and graphically represented. Finally, it is hoped that through this research project, I will be able to explore the potential of space-based utilities and airspace surveillance for cultural heritage protection and monitoring. This will highlight the importance of involving multiple institutions in the management of cultural heritage and the benefits of a multidisciplinary approach for effective cultural property protection.

Profile

I hold a B.A. (Hons) and a M.A. in Archaeology, both from the University of Malta. As a post- graduate, since 2008, I have worked as a freelance archaeologist and in 2011 joined Heritage Malta as a curator for prehistoric sites. In 2014, I joined the Armed Forces of Malta and started a rigorous 17-month officer-training course at the Irish Defence Forces Cadet School (Curragh Camp, Co. Kildare). As a junior officer, I served at the AFM Training School, as an educator and later as Officer Commanding of the School. In 2019, I passed the selection process for ab-initio pilot training, and commenced my helicopter pilot training in Italy. In 2022, I returned to the AFM Airwing where I serve to date.

Alongside my military work, I maintained my involvement in Maltese development-led archaeology and, together with six other colleagues, I am spearheading the process of setting up Malta’s first and only association of professional archaeologists which, amongst its most critical objectives, holds that of professionalising archaeology in Malta, upholding high ethical and scientific standards, advocating for archaeologists across the various facets of this discipline.

My academic research initially focused on prehistory in the Mediterranean and North African regions. However, my experience as a cultural heritage manager and my military work contributed to my avid interest in the vulnerabilities of cultural heritage and the great potential that lies in combining archaeological and military knowledge in multidisciplinary research.

Publications and Academic Awards

Publications:

Muscat, I. (2015) “Sacred Stones: Managing Visitors and Spaces at Borg in-Nadur” in Tanasi, D. and Vella N. C. (eds), The Late Prehistory of Malta: Essays on Borġ in-Nadur and Other Sites. Archaeopress, pp.185-96, Linked here.