Season Director

• AIAC_5327 - The Tumulus Cemetry of Himara - 2018
  From a survey in 2016 on the bed of a stream, east of the ancient centre, in the plain known as Gropa e Himarës (Himara hollow), a previously unknown cemetery was identified with cist tombs damaged and robbed by clandestine diggers. In 2018 archeological excavation documented a tumulus (Tumulus no. 1) of the Late Bronze Age, as well as several tombs with simple architecture southwest of the tumulus along the stream bed. The only object that helps to date the tumulus is the bronze spearhead found in tomb no. 1. The spearhead belongs to leaf-shaped blades type, and dates the tumulus no. 1 in the Late Bronze Age. The tombs in the southwest of the tumulus were robbed and without findings.
• AIAC_5327 - The Tumulus Cemetry of Himara - 2020
  In the 2020 campaign in Himaras tumuli cemetery, a test pit was conducted near tumulus no. 1, as well as the excavation was expanded in the southwestern part, where previously graves no. 3, 4 and 5 were documented . The expansion of the trench was intended to document some visible tombs in the alluvium profile. As a result of excavation a second tumulus was discovered and documented, which was called tumulus no. 2. In this tumulus were found 8 graves which were encircled inside a solid ring with monumental architecture. At the bottom of the tumulus in the earliest stage between layers 003 and 005 were placed 6 tombs (Tombs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), while the other two tombs (7 and 8) were located in the upper layers (between layers 003 and 002) and are certainly the latest. Regarding the chronology of the construction and use of the tumulus no. 2, the archaeological material suggests that it began to be built around the end of the Late Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age and continued to be used during the Iron Age. In addition to the archeological excavation in the territory of Himara Bay, an archaeological survey was conducted to identify possible settlements related to the tumulus cemetery. Archaeological observation revealed two fortified settlements in the hills of St. Pandelejmon and Kuca, as well as three unfortified sites with ceramic finds and flint finds in the hills of St. Demetrius, in Sklero and Buna.The is no summary for this season.
• AIAC_5327 - The Tumulus Cemetry of Himara - 2023
  Tumulus no 3 was discovered between tumuli no. 1 and no. 2, in the bed of the Korrami river. River flows and clandestine excavations had damaged the central part of the tumulus. About 10 graves were discovered from the excavation. They have a simple architecture with stone slabs, or placed in a simple pit. It is not clear how high the mound reached, as it has been damaged by the deposits of the river. The archaeological material found in the graves, but also in the covering soil, dates the mound between the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. The diameter of the ring of the mound, inside which the graves were included, did not exceed 10 meters. Discovery and documentation of tumulus no. 3, confirms the existence of a Late Prehistoric tumulus cemetery in the plain of Himara.
• AIAC_5354 - Necropolis of Amantia - 2020
  The ruins of the Ancient City of Amantia are located on a high rocky hill about 613 m above sea level, between the Vjose and Shushice rivers. Amantia was declared a national archaeological park in 2005 and in addition to the ancient city located on the acropolis there is also a rich necropolis with monumental tombs spread over a large area. As a result of a wave of clandestine activities and acts of vandalism that affected the ancient cemetery, two rescue archaeological excavation campaigns were carried out during the summer and autumn of 2020. Graves no. 9, 16, 28 and 29 of the northeastern necropolis were excavated, as well as grave no. 44 in the acropolis area. Some of the graves belong to the Hellenistic period, while two of them have dating elements from the medieval period (grave no. 16, 44), of which is very little known in Amantia.
• AIAC_5356 - Amantia - 2021
  The monumental tomb no 27 in the ancient city of Amantia is located in the southern necropolis. It is situated on a hill facing east-west. The hill has compact geological composition and creates a safe and strong ground for the placement of a monumental tomb. The tomb was documented in a rescue archeological excavation during 2021. The tomb consists of of a burial chamber covered with a barrel vault and a tiled roof- Material of Hellenistic period was found only in an open pit on the floor of the burial chamber. The overall dimensions of the burial chamber from the outside are 4 x 4 m and height 4 m. On the central axis of the tomb chamber extends a corridor / dromos about 6 m long, roofed with horizontal slabs. The second half of the century III B.C. is suggested to be the first date of the construction of the tomb. In late antiquity the tomb was looted and reused on the inside, while a cemetery was built on the top of it. This contained 8 tombs, mostly cysts built with spolia taken from the monumental tomb and one tomb built a cappucina, with tiles.
• AIAC_5356 - Amantia - 2022
  Monumental tomb no 26 (called the Jew's Tomb by the inhabitants of the area) in the ancient city of Amantia is located in the southern necropolis. It is built on the edge of a ridge. The tomb is classified as Π-shape, with a raised facade on the western side and open on the eastern side. The architecture of the tomb is composed of a platform with stone blocks, 8 m long and 6 m wide, as well as two tombs inside it, one with a brick cover and the other with a stone slab cover. Other examples of this type of tomb have been found in other areas of the ancient necropolis of Amantia, as well as in the necropolis of the Illyrian city of Bylis. The monumental tomb no 26 is the most monumental specimen of graves of this type, documented so far in Albania, in the territory of South Illyria. It dates to the third century BC.
• AIAC_5604 - Mosque of Tabak - 2019
  During the works within the project "Requalification of the Urban Area near the town Centre of Vlora", in the square in front of the building of the Municipality of Vlora, opposite the "Ish-Hetuesia" building, in March 2019 the ruins of the Islamic cult building, known to locals as the Mosque of Tabakut, have surfaced. It is first mentioned in 1676 by the Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi, as the mosque of the Tabak’s neighborhood, along with the other mosques of Vlora, and is one of the seven mosques of Vlora that are mentioned from the time of Çelebi until the middle of the nineteenth century, by the Austrian consul Johan Georg Von Hahn. It is also known from a rich photographic documentation from the 1930-40s and 1950s. From what can be seen from the photographic material, it is classified as a wooden roofed mosque. It has had a high minaret with a thin silhouette in the western part and a porch with monumental façade with arches over stone columns. The interior space of the porch was divided into two parts by another row of arches over the columns. In the absence of previous studies on this important Islamic cult building, in the framework of the project works, we were given the possibility to conduct a rescue excavation in order to document its ruins and obtain data on various elements of its architecture, as well as to clarify its construction period. Archaeological excavations have documented the base of the minaret built of reused antique blocks of unknown origin, the entire western wall built with the clausonage technique, as well as part of the north and south walls of the prayer hall. It was also possible to document a small part of the floor of the prayer hall, which was paved with hexagonal bricks over a layer of compacted clay. A rich ceramic material of the sisteenth-eighteenth century was found in the foundations of the western wall. It was also possible to identify the mosque cemetery in its western part, where a tomb of the seventeenth – eighteenth century was also excavated. The plan, the technique of building the walls, the floor elements of the prayer hall, as well as the pottery, date this mosque around the end of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the sixteenth. It is very likely that the Mosque of Tabakut is the mosque that was built by the vizier Ilias Pasha in the years 1528-1529, in the town of Vlora.
• AIAC_5611 - Cemetery of Permet - 2021
  The cemetery was found during the works for the rehabilitation of the public square in the city of Permet. The cemetery was positioned on the southern side of the Vjosa river, in an urban area, which is known as the “New Neighborhood” of Përmet. Even though the Vjosa valley is known in the archaeological record for its medieval cemeteries, there was no indication of the existence of the recently discovered medieval burial ground. The rescue excavation was organized in two equal sectors. About 25 graves were discovered from the excavation. All were cist-type graves, with walls built with stone slabs and covered with stone slabs. The orientation of their longitudinal axes was east-west. The burial rite in all graves was inhumation. Most of the graves were collective graves, reused more than once. Grave goods were found only in half of them. These consisted mainly of women's jewellery, such as earrings and rings. The study of the archaeological materials, especially the earrings and rings, indicate that the cemetery dates to the 8th-9th century AD. This area of the Përmet cemetery is probably the earliest phase of its function as such. Based on the burial rite and grave goods, the cemetery can be dated to beyond the 9th century AD, and was likely used until at least the 12th century. The typology and character of the ornaments discovered in this cemetery display certain elements of Byzantine culture, sometimes interspersed with Slavic cultural elements. This indicates that the economic and cultural exchanges were mainly linked with the Byzantine world.