Assessing standardization in Maltese prehistoric pottery production

The paper aims to investigate the degree of morphological and stylistic variability in the pottery production during the Late Bronze age in Malta (Borg in Nadur phase), focusing in particular on findings coming from Tas Silg temple. It then analyses, on statistical basis, the fluctuations in the manufacturing process in the reproduction of containers and the stylistic fluctuations in the reproduction of given models, in order to investigate the organization of ceramic production (specialized/non specialized) and the symbolic meaning of stylistic variability. The archaeological sample here analysed is compared with a broad set of data, coming from other archaeological and ethnographic studies.