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AIAC_5357 - Antigonea - 2014
The excavations of the year 2014 in the ancient city of Antigone brought to light new architectural elements that further completed the urban planning system of the city. As in 2013, this year the excavations were focused on one of the terraces of the hill about 200 m south of the city center in two sectors, which we named “Sector G and G1”. First, the road that is located between the houses in a length about 150 m. was excavated. The street is bordered by walls on which rest many interior walls of the dwellings. By means of 3 trenches it was possible to identify the boundary walls of the western side of the main road. Another trench was carried out at the level of the base of the main road, where in the end of the excavation were found traces of a layer of small stones with hard compacted mud. Trenches 16 and 17 were placed in sector “G”, which includes the space of one of the city's insulas. The results from the excavation in these trenches did not give us architectural elements, and the layers were quite poor with archaeological finds. The excavation then continues in house no. 1, located on the longitudinal side of the insula. This excavation unearthed the complete plan of the building. Excavation in sector “G. 1” highlighted the architecture of the residential building on the western side of this main road. This shows that the dwellings, in addition to the spaces used for domestic purposes, also had other rooms that apparently had a dual function, as workshops and shops. Also from this year's excavation, the wall of the right (western) side of the main road was discovered. This wall is 0.60 m wide and is built using a single block or by two rows of medium-sized stones. It is conserved at a height of 0.60 – 1 m. The ceramics found during the excavation comprised fragments of tableware, skyphoi, bowls, pyxides, candelabra, as well as parts of amphorae and pithos from III-II B. C. Were also found a limited number of coins minted in the Epirot League during the period between the years 234-168 BC.
Based on the material, it is thought that this house, like the other buildings, can be dated to the III – II B. C.
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AIAC_5357 - Antigonea - 2018
The excavations of the year 2018 in the ancient city of Antigone, were in continuation of the geophysical research carried out in this settlement during the years 2016-2017. They were concentrated in the sector named G2 located about 200m south of the ancient city center. Initially, the excavations were concentrated along the main axis, where a road tract 150m long was discovered, located near the main southern entrance of the city. The north-western side of the boundary wall of some living space positioned along the road was also discovered. A test pit carried out on this road revealed that its foundation was made with a layer of small stones. In addition to the excavations on the main road, other excavations were also carried out in Insula 2, located to the west of the one with no. 3. At the end of the excavations in this space, two rooms, A and B, and corridor C were discovered. Room A was located in the western part of the building and measured 4.30 x 4.90 m, while the entrance was 1.50 m wide. To the southeast of it was the small room B, 2.60 m wide and 4.90 m long, while its entrance was 0.90 m wide. The walls of the chambers had a width of 1 m and were conserved at a height of about 0.60 m. They are built with two rows of small to medium stones bound with mud. At the end of the excavations in this area, it was possible to discover almost half of the floor plan of the house, and the rooms along the main road, which had the function of shop and a workshop.
Another area where the excavation was concentrated was near the main road. Here, a part of the wall of the western side of the main road as well as the wall of one of the houses located next to this road were partially discovered. The archaeological material that came out dates the use of these structures around III - II BC. Another space where an excavation was carried out was the area in which it is thought that the city theater was located, but at the end of this excavation it was not possible to find enough data to prove the presence of such monument. Another test excavation was carried out at a distance of 800 m from the city fortification, where we think that an extra-urban temple must have existed. In this area can be distinguished, the presence in a large surface of stone blocks with regular parallelopiped shapes, almost the same as those used in the fortification walls, and in other public constructions of Antigone. At the end this excavation did not give any archaeological material.
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AIAC_5600 - Alinura - 2014
The bay of Alinura is positioned in the northern part of the ancient city of Butrint. From surface survey archeological materials were found, which date from the Archaic to the Venetian periods, as well as various structures. In the plain of the bay, two trenches measuring 5 x 5 m were excavated. Excavation in the first square revealed the existence of an interesting material found at a depth of 2m. The presence of at least 4 stratigraphic phases where the presence of the Hellenistic period, two phases of the Roman period and a layer of ceramics dated to the Venetian-Ottoman period can be clearly distinguished. Excavations revealed other walls which were part of a building covered in tiels. Square II was placed at a distance of 15m, further west of the first and also gave us important results in terms of the period of development of this archaeological site. The excavation reached a depth of 70-80 cm and up to this depth a large amount of ceramics was discovered, in addition to the tiles.
The presence of architectural elements such as the remains of a wall was also evident in this square. In addition to the ruins of the wall, the presence of a floor built with elaborate stone slabs, which is thought to be from the Hellenistic or Roman period, was also revealed.
The above data lead us to think that the archaeological site may have been a settlement in the Hellenistic period, which continued its activity in the Roman period (II-IV century AD) and to continue until the phase Venetian - Ottoman. Alinura served Butrint in different periods, but also other rural settlements in the Ksamil Peninsula.