archaeological survey in the territory of epidamnus/ dyrrachium in albania abstract

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T H E D U R R E S R E G I O NA L
HESPERIA 72 (2003)
Pages
4I-II9
A RC H A E O LO G I CA L
P ROJ E CT
ARCHAEOLOGICSAULR VEYIN
THET ERRITORYO F EPIDAMNUS/
DYRRACHIUMIN ALBANIA
ABSTRACT
In the springo f 2001t he hillyu plandsim mediatelyn orthwesot fthe modern
cityo f Durresw eref ort he firstt imei nvestigatedu singt he techniqueso f in-
tensives urfaces urveyI. n total,a n areao f six squarek ilometerws ase xplored
and twenty-nines itesw ered efined,m ost of them new.R emainso f Greek
antiquitywerpel entifual ndi ncludeu npublisheidn scriptionasn dg ravesO. ne
sitem aybet hel ocationo f a previousluy nknownA rchaict emple.I ncludedin
thisa rticlea red escriptionosf the areasi nvestigateda,l ist of sites,a nda cata-
logue of the most diagnostica rtifactsr ecoveredP. atternso f settlementa nd
landu se ared iscusseda nd comparedto those recordedb y others urveysi n
Albania.
ModernD urresi n centralA lbaniai s todayt he largests eaporti n the coun-
try and is linked by a superhighwayto the capital,T irana,3 5 km to the
east (Figs. 1-2).1 Durres is the location of Epidamnus/Dyrrachiuma,
Greekc olony that was foundedi n the later 7th centuryB .C. by Corcyra
with supportf rom Corinth and other Dorian cities.2T he ancientp olis
centerh as long been the objecto f archaeologicarle searcha, nd is partic-
ularlyw ell known to ancienth istoriansb oth as the site of a revolution
that constitutedo ne of the proximatec ausesf or the outbreako f the Pelo-
ponnesianW ar (Thuc. 1.24-29) and as the site of a majorb attleb etween
1. Davis,H oti, PojaniS, tockera, nd especiallyto MariaG raziaA morea nd ourm . lss. lonl. n everyp OSSl. D1 lew ay.
Wolperta rej ointlyr esponsiblfeo rt he LorencB ejkof ort heira ssistancien 2. Thuc.1 .24.O n the dateo f the
overalal uthorshiopf thisp aperA. che- planningfi eldworkW. e alsot hankt he colonys, ee Eusebius(S choene1 866,
son contributead reporto n the results Universityo f Cincinnatfio ri ts support p. 89, line 1392).J erome'cso ntinuation
of surveyb yTeamB . Appendix2 and of ourr esearchW. e thankO ls Lafe of Eusebiusp lacest he foundationin
mosto f the cataloguedd escriptionosf andM ariaG raziaA moref orh elpi n 627 B.C., slightlye arlierth ant he texto f
artifactas ret he worko f Hayes.U nless proofreadintgh isr eporta ndL ida Eusebiusit self( Helm1 956,p . 97b).I n
otherwisen oted,a ll photographasr e Mirajf orh erh ospitalityin Durreso n the remaindeorf this articleE, pidam-
fromt he projecat rchives. manyo ccasionsF. ieldworkw asc on- nus/Dyrrachiumis r eferredto more
We areg ratefutlo RichardH odges ductedw ithp ermissionfr omt he simplyb y the nameo f the modernc ity,
(Universitoyf EastA nglia),H enry Instituteo f Archaeologiyn Tirana; Durres.
Hurst( CambridgUe niversity)a,n d MuzaferK orkutii,t s directorf,a cilitated
American School of Classical Studies at Athens
is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to
Hesperia ®
www.jstor.org
42 JACK L. DAVIS ET AL.
t: ;: f:'
:
0 L9h
\ T: s
) i E
Apoll
Figure1 . Map of Albanias howing
principalc enterso f Greekc ulture.
R. J. Robertson
JuliusC aesara ndP ompey( Caes.B 3.35-61)a t Petrai n 48 A
Civ. B.C.3
steepr idgef ormsa backdrofpo rt he modernp ort.T he top of the south-
ernmosht ill is todayo ccupiedb y the palaceo f the formerm onarcho f
AlbaniaA, hmedZ ogu( Fig.3 ).I t is cleart hatm ucho f thep resenct ityh as 3. Heuzey1 886,p p.3 5-88. An-
cients ourcesfo rt he historyo f Durres
beenb uilto vera ncienrt emains.
arer eproducedtr, anslateda,n dd is-
A historyo f modernr esearcihn Durresm ightp roperlbye gini n 1861
cussedi n Cabaneas ndD rini1 995,
witht he explorationosf LeonH euzeyo, ne componenitn a FrenchM is-
pp. 19-33, anda rel istedi n Myrto
siont o Macedoniaa,n dw itht hed escriptioonf the LateR omanc ircuiot f 1998,p p.7 6-86.
DURRE.. S REGIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT 43
Figure2 . City and port of the mod-
ern city of Durres.F romT owerF ,
lookings outheast.
Figure3 . Palaceo f Ahmed Zogu.
Lookingn orth-northwesftr omt he
new ArchaeologicaMl useumo f
Durres.
fortificationpsu blishedb y Heuzeya ndD aumeti n 1876 (Fig.4 ).4T he
nexts ystematiact temptto inventortyh ea ntiquitieosf thea ncienct ityw as
thato f the AustrianCs amilloP raschnikearn dA rnoldS chober.Ss oon
aftera, Frenche xpeditionin 1925c onductedso undingisn varioulso ca-
4. Heuzey1 886,c hap.2 , pp.4 3-55; fortificationhsa veb eeni dentified logicalr esearchin Durres( complete
Heuzeya ndD aumet1 876,p p.3 49- (GutteridgeH, oti, andH urst2 001, through1 993),s ee the annotatedb ib-
392. It remainos ddt hata sy et no pp.3 95, 406, n. 23). Fort he most liographoyf Myrto( 1998,p p.7 6-103).
traceso f Hellenistico r earlierR oman comprehensivdei scussiono f archaeo- 5. Praschnikearn dS chober1 919.
44 JACK L. DAVIS ET AL.
Figure4 . Detail fromm apo f the
Durresa rea.A fterH euzeyl 886, plan4
. -fuk
Figure5 . Architecturatle rracotta
foundi n the modernc emeteryo f
Durres.C ourtesyIn stituteo f Archaeology,
Tirana
tionsa ndd eterminetdh at,i n thec entrazlo neo f them odernc ityl, evelso f
6. Rey1 925.
Greekd atel ie some5 m beneathth e currenstt reet.6
7. See Hammond1 967,p p.4 25-
SinceW orldW arI I, remainos f a Romanb ath,a macelluma,n da n
426, 469-470,f ort he foundationo f
amphitheathearv eb eene xcavateadn, dt hec oursoe f ana queducotf Trajanic the originacl olonyt,h e uncertaintoyf
dateh asb eend ocumentedE.v idencfeo rt he Greekc ityi s moree xiguous its locationa, ndw hatl ittlei s known
andv irtuallny othingis knowna boutt he sizea ndp reciselo cationo f the of its earlyh istory.
8. See,w ith earlierr eferenceMs, iraj
originaclo lony.P7r e-Romarne mainisn cludeo nlya Hellenistihc ousea; n
1994( bath)H; oti 1989b,1 996( macel-
altaro f the 4th century discoverendo rtheasot f the porti n drained
B.C. lum);T o,ci1 971a ndM iraj1 990 (am-
marshlanda;n da rchitecturtaelr racottaosf WesternG reekA rchaics tyle
phitheaterM); iraja ndM yrto1 982
foundi n thea reao f them odernc emeteroyf thec ity( Fig.5 ).8L argen um- (aqueduct);Tarta1r9i8 8( Hellenistic
DURRES REGIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT 45
Figure6 . Generaml apo f theD urres
areaR. .J . Robertson
house)M; yrto1 989( altar)a; ndZ eqo berso f gravesa ndg ravem arkerosf Archaicth roughE arlyR omand ate
1989( architecturtaelr racottas).
haveb eenl ocatedi n the valleysn ortha ndn orthwesot f the cityo n the
9. Villai s the hill of the palaceo f
slopeso f the hillso f DautajK, okomana,n dV illa( Fig.6 ).9O therg raves
AhmedZ ogu.
haveb eenf oundc loserto them arshin thea reab etweenS pitallaan dP orto
10.T oj ci1 976;H idri1 983,1 997;
Tartar1i 987;M yrto1 998,p . 99. Romano.l°
46 JACK L. DAVIS ET AL.
Figure7 . Viewo f thec ityo f Durres
fromt ractA 077.P etraa tf arr ighti n
TH E ARC HAE O L O G I CAL SU RVEY thed istanceL. ookings outheast.
To the northwesotf thep orto f Durresb, etweenth ec itya ndt hem odern
villageo f PortoR omanoa,r eu plandsc,a .1 0 in extentT. hesef ormed
km2
thei mmediathei nterlanodf thea ncienpt olisa ndi ncludeth ea ncienct em-
eterieso n the hillso f DautajK, okomana,n dV illa( Fig.7 ). Untilr ecently
the areaw ass parselsye ttleda nd,a lthoughfr equentltyh e targeto f visits,
extensivien vestigationan, de xcavatiobny personnebl aseda t the Durres
museumi,t hadn everb eens ystematicalelyx ploredI.n 1999i t wasc lear,
howevert,h at antiquitieisn theseu plandsw ereb eingd estroyeda t an
acceleraterda tea s the resulto f illegals ettlemenot f immigrantfsr om
northerAn lbaniaT. he ideao f organizinagn i ntensivae rchaeologicsaulr -
veyh eref irstb egant o be discussedam ongm emberosf theI nternational
Centero f AlbanianA rchaeologiyn Tiranai n the fall of thaty ear,a nd
preliminarrye connaissanwcea sc arriedo uti n a smalla rean eart he mod-
ernc emeteroyf the city.llS everaclo ncentratioonfs p otterya ndt ilew ere
foundt hereb y LorencB ejkoa ndM ariaG raziaA moreo f the Albanian
RescueA rchaeologUy nit,a sw ell as a much-disturbbedu riacl ontaining
the necko f a red-figureadm phoraan dt wo smallb lack-glazoei nochoai
(Fig.8 ).12
Fromt hisa uspicioubse ginninga roset he DurresR egionaAl rchaeo-
logicaPl rojec(tD RAP)a, rescuem issionin tendedto servea sa preludteo
11. Bejkoa ndA more2 000,p p.4 5- belowA, 048-02f romS 007).A dded The scenesa ref rameda bovea ndb elow
46. miltoss eemst o haveb eene mployedto by a bando f egg motifs.O n the shoul-
12. RobertF . Suttonh ase xamined imitatet he coloro f Atticr ed-figure dera bando f tonguem otifsi s pre-
photographosf thesef indsa ndc om- potterya, nda thin,d ullb lackg lazew as servedT. he amphoraap peartso date
mentst hatt he fabrico f the amphora usedf ort he partlyf ugitiveb ackground. to the lastt hirdo f the 5th centuryB .C.
appeartso be Corinthian(o ra related Erosi s illustrateodn boths ideso f the The dateo f the oinochoafio undb y
fabric)l,i ket hato f a smallc hous-type neck:o n one sideh e is shootinga bow, Bejkoa ndA morei s consistenwt ith
oinochoef oundd uringo urs urvey( see ando n the otherh e is seatedo n a chair. thato f the amphora.
DURRES REGIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT 47
Figure8 . Findsf romt hev icinityo f
thec emeteroyf Durresr: ed-figured
amphornae ck( twov iews)s; mall
oinochoeC. ourtesyL . BejkoM, . G.
Amorea, ndI nternationaCle ntero f
AlbanianA rchaeologiyn Tirana
a long-termp rogramof researcihn the Durresa reaT. he projecits spon-
soredb yt heI nternationCale ntero f AlbanianA rchaeologiyn Tiranaa, n
institutees tablisheidn 1999a ndf undedb yt heP ackarHd umanitieIsn sti-
tute( PHI).1I3n August2 000,D avis,S tockera, ndP ojanit,o getherw ith
AdamG utteridgoef CambridgUe niversityv,i sitedt he areat o be exam-
ined.F ieldworwk asc onductedb etweenM arch1 0 andA pril5 , 2001.14
A totala reao f ca. 600 ha wasi nvestigatebdy two teamsg, enerallcyo n-
sistingo f fivef ieldwalkearsn da teaml eaderi,n thirteena nda halfd ayso f
fieldwork.l5
13. PHI is particularclyo n- AfrimH oti (codirectoIrn, stituteo f cinnati)a, ndA aronD . Wolpert( field
cernedt o ensuret he preservatioonf ArchaeologyG), enciK otepano(d river, directorU, niversityo f Cincinnati).
Albania'ssi gnificanat rchaeological InternationaCle ntero f Albanian 15.T eamA wasl ed byW olpert,
heritage. ArchaeologyR), ovenaK urti( field- TeamB by AchesonT. he totala rea
14.M emberso f the projecitn - walkerU, niversityo f Tirana)O, ls Lafe investigatewd asc alculateidn two
cludedP hoebeE . Acheson( team (fieldwalkeUr,n iversitoyf Cincinnati), differenwt aysw ith nearlyid entical
leaderU, niversitoyf Cincinnati), ElvanaM etalla( fieldwalkeIrn, stitute resultsU. singt he firstm ethodw, e
Valbona,C oko(f ieldwalkeUr,n iversity of ArchaeologyI)r, isP ojan(i codirector, calculatetdh at5 98.75h a weres ur-
of Tirana)S, iriolD avies( fieldwalker, InternationaCle ntero f Albanian veyed:t he areaw asc omputeda s ([the
Universitoyf CincinnatiJ),a ckL . ArchaeologyE),d uardS hehi( field- totall engthw alkedi n the courseo f
Davis( codirectoUr,n iversityo f walkerI,n stituteo f Archaeology), the projecbt y all teamm embersx] 15
Cincinnati)R, odneyD . Fitzsimons BrikenaS hkodra(f ieldwalkeIrn, sti- [spaceb etweenf ieldwalkers])/10,000.
(fieldwalkeUr,n iversitoyf Cincinnati), tuteo f ArchaeologyS),h aronR . The secondm ethodw, hichs ummed
AdamG utteridg(ef ieldwalkeCr,a m- Stocker( codirectoUr,n iversityo f the areaso f all polygonsd efineda s
bridgeU niversityJ),o hnW . Hayes CincinnatiJ),o hnL . Wallrod(tc om- tractsy, ieldsa totals urveyeda reao f
(ceramiac nalystO, xfordU niversity), putero perationsU, niversityo f Cin- 600 ha.
48 JACK L. DAVIS ET AL.
In the followingse ctionso f thisa rticlew e firstd escribteh e methods
employedb yt he surveya nd,i n retrospecbt,r ieflye valuatteh eire ffective-
ness.l6W e discussin geographicoarl derf romn ortht o southt he water-
shedso rc atchmenatr eaisn vestigatebdy t hep rojecat ndo urd iscoverieins
each,p articulartlyh e majorc oncentrationosf artifact(ss ites)t hath ave
beeni dentifiedN. ext,t he natureo f the artifactcso llectedb y ourt eamsi s
examineda,s a reo veralpl atternisn thed istributioonf materialosf specific
datesF. inallyw, e attacht wol engthya ppendiceisn whichs itesa ndo ther
findspotsa red escribedin detaila ndw herea selectiono f artifactfsr om
themi s presentedE. xtensivde epositos f ceramicfsr ome xcavationins the
cityo f Durresa ndf romi ts cemeteriehsa vea lreadbye enp ublisheidn A1-
banianjo urnalsb, utt hesea ren ot readilya vailablteo foreigns cholarsA.
relativelfyu lld escriptioonf findsf romt heh interlanodf Durrews ill,t here-
fore,b e of valueb otht o ceramicsp ecialistasn dt o thosew ho mayi n the
futurep ursueth e studyo f landscapaer chaeologaylo ngt hee asternli ttoral
of theA driaticS ea.
FIELD METHODS AND SURVEY STRATEGY
In formulatintgh er esearcsht rategfyo rD RAPw, e didn otm akea nyp rior
assumptionasb outt he locationo f ancienrt emainso;u rg oalw ast o cover
thee ntiretyo f thet argetedar eas o thatl arge-scalpea tternisn thed istribu-
tiono f artifactws ouldb e mosti ntelligibleA. lthoughit waso uri ntention
to collectr emainosf allp eriodos f thep astw, e hopedi n particulathr ato ur
resultsw oulds upplementth e archaeologicraelc ordfo r the Graeco-Ro-
manp erioda, ndi n particulatrh e historyo f the Greekc ity.T he highest
priorityfo rf ieldworwk ast hec onstructioonf a GeographicIanl formation
System( GIS)t hatw ouldp ermiat comprehensimvea po f surfacree mains
16. Fielda ndm useump rocedures
of pasth umana ctivityto be drawn.17
usedw ereb roadlys imilarto thosee m-
A highc oastarl idge( 187 masla t its higheste levationr)u nsn orth-
ployedb y the NemeaV alleyA rchaeo-
southf romt he modernc ityo f Durrest o PortoR omanop, arallelebdy an logicalP roject( Wrighte t al. 1990),t he
earthentr ackh igho n its easternsl opes( Fig.9 ).T odayt he southernp arts PylosR egionaAl rchaeologicaPlr oject
of this areaa rec alledS pitallat,h e northernp artsP, ortoR omanoT. here (Davise t al. 1997),a ndt he Mallakastra
RegionaAl rchaeologicaPlr oject( Kor-
aret wom odernre servoirins theS pitallaa reaT. hep resenct emeteroyf the
kutie t al. 1998).
city is alsol ocatedh erea nd,f artherto the north,t herei s a largern ew
17.T he DigitalE levationM odel
cemeteryth atw ill soonb egino perationT. he surveya reaw asd efinedb y
(DEM)u sedf ort he project'Gs IS was
the seao n thew est,b y the Durres-PortRo omanor oada ndt he Durres- producedb y ChristopheDr oreo f
PortoR omanoir rigatiocna nalo n the east,b yt hep alaceo f AhmedZ ogu ArchaeologicaMl appingS pecialists
on the south,a ndb yt he endo f the coastarl idgea t PortoR omanoo n the (Berkeleya)t a scaleo f 1:10,000f rom
Albaniana rmym apsW. allrodt
northT. his areai s, of courseo, nly a fractiono f the totalh interlandof
managedth e computersy stems
Durreso, therp artso f whichm ayp rofitablbye investigateidn thef uture.18
employedb y the project.
The surveya reai s underlainb y sedimentarryo ckso f Pliocenea nd 18. See the discussiona t the endo f
Miocenea ge andb y alluviafla n depositsd atingt o the LateP leistocene this reporwt herep ossibilitiefso rf uture
and EarlyH oloceneM. ost extensivea reP liocene-agedH elmesiS uite researchar ed iscussedI.n 2001w e did
not surveya reaso f denses ettlement
depositsth atc onsisto f mudrockssi,l tstonesa,n ds andstoneTs.h e steeply
neart he Durres-PortoR omanor oado r
slopingr idgei n the westernp arto f the surveya ream arksa geological
the drainedm arshe asto f the road.F or
contacbt etweent he youngerP liocenes edimentas nda n olderM iocene-
antiquitiefsr omt he marshs, eeM yrto
agedd epositt hatc onsistso f reducedg,r ayd, eep-watemr arines ediments 1989.
DURRE.. S REGIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT 49
Figure9 . Weste ndo f zone8 with
easts ideo f coastarl idgei n the
backgrounLd.o okings outhwest.
composedo f mudrockss,i ltstonesa, nd sandstonesD. eep outcropso f
claya rec ommonlfyo undi n theM iocened epositT. he gypsuma lsoc on-
tainedi n thiso lderM iocene-agedde posiwt asf ormedin a periodo f low
sea levelw hens eawateirn the Mediterraneabne cames ufficientlcyo n-
centratetdo precipitatseu cha mineraTl. he smallv alleyso n the eastern
side of the surveya reaa reu nderlainb y LateP leistocenteo EarlyH o-
locenea lluviafla n depositsl,a rgelyfo rmedf roml ocalr eworkinogf the
olderP lioceneb edrockT. he fansc onsisto f coarsec olluviuma ndf iner
slope-wasdhe posits.l9
Beforet he starto f fieldwortkw elvet opographzico nesw ered efined
(Fig.6 ). The definitiono f the zonesd id not reflecta ncients ettlement
patternosr m odernla ndu se.Z ones1 -11 arec atchmenttsh atf ort hem ost
partr unf romt heh ighc oastarl idged ownt o thed rainedm arshe asto f the
Durres-PortRo omanor oadZ. one1 2 comprisetsh e entiretyo f the steep
westerns lopeso f the coastarl idgeT. he basicu nito f analysiws ithine ach
zonew ast he "tract,a" p olygond efinedo n the spotb y the leadero f the
surveyte amw, hot ooki ntoa ccounnt aturatlo pographmy,a n-madbeo und-
19.W e thankM ichaelE . Timpson
ariess, oilc onditionsa,n dc urrenvte getationV. egetatioann dm odernla nd
fort he geologicadl escriptioinn cluded
in thisp aragraph. usew ereh eldu niforma, nds tandardizecda tegoricavla luesw ereu sedt o
JACK L. DAVIS ET AL.
so
lS x
)k
Q3
b
a
Figure1 0. a) Vegetationi n the
measuraet tributews ithine acht ract( Fig.1 0).T ractws erea lsok eptc on-
surveya rea;b ) landu se in the
sistentlysm alls o thats ubsequentilty w ouldb e possibleto producae fine-
surveya rea.R .J .R obertson
grainedp ictureo f ther elationshibpe tweenv egetationla, ndu se,a nda rti-
factd ensitya,n dt o mapt hef indspotosf specifica rtifactws ithc onsiderable
precision.20
Onceb oundariewse red efinede, acht ractw ast raversebdy f ivet o six
fieldwalkesrps aced1 5 m apartC. loses pacingp rovedp articularilmy por-
tants incet hel andscapies verys tablea ndo fteno nlys malle rosionaelx po-
sureso fferedw indowso f visibilityth roughw hicht he existenceo f large
artifacstc attercso uldb e surmisedT.e amm embercso unteda rtifacttsh at
theyo bserveda ndt henr eportedth osec ountst o the teaml eadera t the
endo f eacht ractw, hent heyw erer ecordeidn a commonn otebookt;h is
informatiowna se nteredin a datab asee ache veningT. eamm emberws ere
instructetdo collecat lls herdos fp otteryth atp reservepda rto f a rimh, andle,
20.T ractsw erea lmostn everl arger
base,t raceso f decorationo,r thath ada n otherwisde istinctivfee atureo r
than2 .0 ha (99%< 2.0 ha;9 6%< 1.5
fabrica; nda ll smallf inds,i ncludinga ll exampleosf chippeda ndg round ha;a nd8 4%< 1.0 ha).