Excavations in the northern-most tower of the western defensive wall at the ancient site of Butrint, were continued in 2006. During the excavations, directly above a beaten earth floor of the tower, the complete remains of at least twelve stemmed Venetian drinking glasses and a number of glass platters were found. In addition, a number of iron knives, two unusual glazed 8th/9th-century chafing dishes (portable ovens) and a unique group of at least eight complete ceramic vessels, mostly of local fabrics, were found. One of the chafing dishes may be of south Italian origin; the second appears to be locally produced. Pottery sherds displaying incised wavy-line decoration - so-called Slavic wares - were also found in the Tower. The floor of the structure was sealed by a thin charcoal-rich layer, dated by radiocarbon dating to the 9th century and then a deep deposit of broken roof tiles; evidently the charcoal layer represents a catastrophic fire in which the tower’s tiled roof collapsed inwards. Shortly thereafter part of the tower walls tumbled into the interior and the tower was not re-built until the 13th or 14th century. The elite assemblage of ceramics and glass of the late 8th and early 9th century, appear to represent the contents of a formal dining room of the tower’s occupant who was plainly a person of high status at this time.

Apart from a few stray pottery sherds and a single Roman coin, the earliest materials found during the excavation season of 2007 at the Tower in the western wall of Butrint, date from around the period of its construction and first use. The general absence of earlier material indicates that the construction of the new fortification line dismantled and cleaned the ground around the tower. Thus, the bulk of Roman coins from the site date to the late 5th century, with a couple from the later 6th century. Also the Roman ceramic assemblage is dominated by material dated from the late 5th century through to the mid 6th century. From the post-Roman period there were found only in the tower, the latest one date in the earlier 7th century. From the 7th to 9th centuries there is total absence of archaeological material evidence that proves the occupation of the Tower in this period. However, it is clear from this season of excavation that the tower remained in good order and was presumable used and maintained in some form until around the turn of the 9th century. The excavation focused on an earthen floor-the ground floor storeroom of residents living on an upper storey with access gained from a staircase outside the tower. Remains of animal bones from the floor show that the residents’ diet included plenty of sheep, goat, and wild deer and boar. The floor and the contents of the store were sealed beneath a collapsed upper floor of shattered 5th century paving and roof tiles and carbonised joist timbers. The collapse of the floor above was clearly the result of a catastrophic fire, an event dated by radiocarbon analysis of the remains to c. AD 800. In the centre of the beaten earth floor were found a simple hearth and a portable oven. Just inside the door, in front of the hearth, were found two groups of stores. To the right lay a collection of glass, probably stored in a wooden crate. The assemblage included at least 60 thin-stemmed late-style wine goblets, window glass, fragments of late Roman vessels and a lump of opaque green glass. This large deposit of mixed glass fragments bears many of the hallmarks of a collection intended for recycling as cullet – an extraordinarily precious consignment destined for a glass maker to melt down for new vessels. Alongside the glass was found an assemblage of ceramic vessels which included: two tall decorated locally produced pots of the regional Slavic tradition; a brightly painted amphora and bowl from Apulia; and thin, white-walled tableware from Constantinople. A tiny black-painted 3rd century BC aryballos (perfume bottle) was found amongst the other pots, presumably taken from a tomb as a token of antiquity. More vessels were gathered untidily in a corner to the left of the door, crushed by the collapsed first floor of the Tower. Seven globular wine amphorae from Otranto were accompanied by another probably from Ephesus on the west coast of modern Turkey. Finds of mid 13th to mid 14th century pottery date from when the tower was next refurbished as a defence under the Despots of Epirus.

During the archaeological season of 2008 continued the excavation of the southern half of the tower’s interior. No evidence of abandonment is shown in the tower’s stratigraphy from late antiquity up to early-mid Byzantine period. During this phase the tower’s function changed from defensive to residential. The archaeological evidence indicates that at the turn of the 9th century the interior of tower was burned. This is best represented by deposit of charcoal black layer which was consistent throughout the interior, although with a higher concentration against the west wall and south-eastern corner. Occurring in a single event, the fire caused the collapsed of the 1st floor (a gritty mortar layer with fragments of tiles and 2nd floor (composed of tile bedding under a sticky reddish orange clay) levels, and the tile roof also above the ground floor (grayish clay). In and within the 1st floor a unique assemblage of almost 15 complete vessels, among them a "chafing-dish", placed alongside the southern and western part of the interior was found in situ, meanwhile two amphorae were found sitting on the ground floor. Given the rich contents found within the tower the functioned of each floor level can be postulated. The ground storey might have been used as a storage area; the 1st for daily domestic occupation, meanwhile the 2nd storey may have served as private area for living. Soon after the fire the tower was reoccupied and its collapsed roof was leveled up to create a new ground floor upon which mussel shells were processed. By this time most likely the tower had lost its residential function and it was used for nearby fishing activity. A deposit of rubble, which lay upon the mussel shells, marks the end of the above mention activity carried out within the tower’s interior. Composed of limestones and infrequent tile fragments bonded with whitish mortar, the context which slopes strongly toward the western wall represents the collapse of the tower’s upper walls in a single event. A small hearth, composed of broken tiles and slightly sticky reddish clay, situated in the south-west corner of the interior indicates that after the collapsed the tower was abandoned. The construction technique on the eastern wall of the tower (the used of circular putlog holes in the outer and inner face of eastern wall) indicates that by mid 13th – early 14th cent the tower and the Western Defences as a whole were refortified, regaining its defensive function. The Venetian occupation of the tower is represented by the blocking of the door that was used to retain the dumped deposits within the interior. Part of this blocking were made by incorporating large sections of a Roman wall which stands 2m to the exterior of the tower’s doorway. This activity redesigned the tower’s interior by raising its level c. 2m to create a new ground surface at 1st floor level used in the 15th – 16th cent. This phase marks the end of the tower’s occupation. There is no post 16th cent evidence for the occupation of the tower, thus suggesting its abandonment.