Season Director

• AIAC_5602 - Northern gate (Oricum) - 2017
  In sector number 3, the excavations started in 2013, where part of the fortification wall and the northern entrance were partially discovered. In 2017, a rectangular structure with stone blocks and stone filling in the center was completely excavated. The structure is thought to have been either a tower or an artillery platform in front of the entrance. The material found from the excavation dates the platform to the second century BC. Excavation inside the structure revealed large stones and rough blocks that served to reinforce the foundation of the protective structure that was bounded by double walls. The study of the ceramics of this layer showed a great chronological homogeneity, including forms that date to the end of the 3rd century and the beginning of the 2nd century BC. The protective wall of the entrance corridor of the gate is chronologically the same as the quadrangular structure itself (Tower? Artillery platforms?). This is confirmed by the water evacuation channel that was built between the entrance and the platform. In the northwest, the excavation was extended to a surface of about 80 m². A part of the Hellenistic wall was discovered. It extended towards the west for another 2.50 m. At this point, it seems that the wall of the Hellenistic period has a deviation inside the city. In continuation of the wall, it seems that the entire area was restored in the Byzantine period. The blocks from the Hellenistic period were reused and in addition to the mortar used as a binder, the joints were filled with bricks and tiles. The width of the Byzantine period wall reached 2 m. The entrance of the Byzantine period was built at a higher level than that of the Hellenistic period. It was equipped with channels for water drainage.
• AIAC_5610 - Northern wall (Oricum) - 2017
  Excavations in 2017 continued in the wall that delimits the southern part of the Acropolis. The wall is built with spolia taken from ancient buildings, and in the construction, mortar was used as a binding material, as well as bricks. This fortification, which was excavated in 1990 to a length of 40 m, required a better knowledge of the stratigraphy. In 2016, the entrance threshold was discovered, which is located in the west of the wall, as well as a collection of stones in the interior creating the impression of a tower. In 2017, different parts of the wall were excavated, in the center and in the east, to make a more accurate dating of the wall. Some amphora fragments found in the foundation of the fortification belong to the fifth-sixth centuries AD. In all the test pits carried out along the wall, the material in all the layers belongs the same period. Part of the material found were kitchen ceramics for which the exact date cannot be given. A few materials from the Hellenistic period also come from the mixed layers. The wall apparently demonstrates a Late Antique fortification of the acropolis. The acropolis was fortified when Orikum turned into a strategic center for the Byzantine Empire, from which the fleet controlled not only the bay of Vlora, but also traffic in the Otranto channel.