exhibition in nhm

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Shkodër, ancient Scodra, is among the most important archaeological sites known from Albania. But despite its major role in history, Scodra still has not revealed many of its secrets. Even the origins of its name are veiled in mystery.

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Page 1: Exhibition in NHM

Shkodër, ancient Scodra, is among the most important

archaeological sites known from Albania. But despite its major role in history, Scodra still has not revealed many of its secrets. Even the origins of its name are veiled in mystery.

Page 2: Exhibition in NHM

Archaeology came to Scodra in the 1970s with the discovery by S. Anamali and H. Spahiu of a house filled with mosaic floors. The investigations were continued in the 1980s by B. Lahi and G. Hoxha, who conducted six seasons of excavations both in the fortress and at the base of the hill, uncovering late antique habitations, Roman wall defenses and a part of the ancient cemetery.

In 2011 an Albanian–Polish research project was established based on an international agreement signed between the Institute of Archaeology in Tirana and the Antiquity of Southeastern Europe Research Center of the University of Warsaw.

The long-term aims of the project are to investigate the ancient past of Scodra and to this goal the two research centers have been collaborating with good effect for several years: on the Albanian side the directors of the Institute of Archaeology L. Perzhita and I. Gjapali and on the Polish side the Rector of the University of Warsaw Prof. M. Pałys and successive Ambassadors of the Republic of Poland in Tirana, I. Tatarzyńska and M. Jeziorski.

The project has also benefited from the generous assistance of the Ministry of Culture of Albania represented by and the Chief Conservator’s Office.

Photo (from the left): G. Gjergji (worker of Rozafa), Prof. B. Lahi, Prof. L. Perzhita (Institute of Archaeology. Tirana), Q. Çanga (worker of Rozafa), Prof.G. Hoxha (Institute of Archaeology, Tirana), MA J. Recław (University of Warsaw), Prof. P. Dyczek (University of Warsaw).

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The fieldwork is directed by S. Shpuza and P. Dyczek.

Working with supervisors H. Sokoli, J. Recław and M. Lemke and a group of Albanian and Polish collaborators and student-trainees, the team has excavated 25 test trenches over six seasons of fieldwork. Years of collaboration has generated individual mutual sympathies and friendship. The cooperation with colleagues from Albania can be an excellent example, not just for the other Balkan nations.

Research carried out since the 1980s has shown the hill of Scodra to be inhabited already in the Bronze Age. In the 2nd century BC the Illyrian king Genthios made his capital city here. Some Hellenistic material has been discovered, including tentatively the first stone structures.

The investigations of the defenses are better advanced. A section of the original so-called Cyclopean walls has been raced, and dated to the 4th or early 3rd century BC. There is also some modest evidence of the Lower City walls. The small finds: fragments of amphorae and amphora stoppers, and sherds of table ware come mainly from the 2nd century BC. By the 3rd century AD it was a Roman colony, a fact attested by written sources. In late Antiquity it was the capital of the Roman province of Praevalis. The Roman period is abundantly

represented in the present research. A unique inscription supplied much new data on the political status of Scodra and the organization of the province already in the 3rd century AD.

The inscription was composed of two stones discovered together, one of them with an additional bilingual, Greek and Latin, inscription added in the late Roman period.

A fragment of early funerary stela can be taken as evidence of a rapid romanization of the province. In turn, a base under a statue of a Scodra citizen Memmius Iulius has confirmed for the first time the status of the city as a Roman colony; at the same time, it has given information on the organization of the Roman army in this period. The rich Roman house discovered early on in the city, probably equipped with a hypocaust system, and decorated with color marble revetment and intricate stuccowork on the walls has been useful in reconstructing the ancient past of the city. Investigations of the Lower City fortifications confirmed the results of earlier research and determined the chronological phases of its construction.

Important families like the Balsha made it its seat in the early Middle Ages. The Venetians dominate it in the beginning of the 15th century. In 1479, the Ottoman armies lay siege

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to the town and take it after heavy fighting. It remains under their occupation until 1912.

Important new data has also been collected in the medieval history of Scodra. Judging by the rich repertoire of table ware, luxury Venetian and later also Ottoman vessels, the excavated part of the site may have been the town center. A hoard of coins and pottery deposit in the old cistern, a channel network, buildings with intricately carved woodwork, a unique hammam or bath all build a picture of medieval Scodra as a rich and flourishing town.

There are also some small, but highly interesting finds, like an apothecary’s shop from the 17th century; the finds included elements of a balance and vessels for medicine, including a unique metal pyxis that had contained thyriacum, an antidote known already in antiquity(!), imported to Scodra from a famous apothecary in Venice. The issue of the old defense wall was also resolved. The structure was part of the 15th century fortifications built by the Sultan’s army during the siege of Scodra. The investigations revealed also part of the ancient quarry.