Some New Tombs at Amantia

In 2020, some rescue excavations were carried out in and around the archaeological site of Amantia in response to illegal digging at the site. Under the auspices of the Regional Directorate of Cultural Heritage of Vlorë and the Directorate of Archaeological Service of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage several excavations were undertaken, and a variety of burials discovered, including one containing evidence of occupation of the site during the Ottoman period.

View of Tombs 28 and 29 from the road 

Some of the tombs are now accessible to the public, and though the largest monumental tomb involves quite a long walk from the road in the village of Ploçe, below the site (and which will be the subject of another blog post), two of the tombs are near the entrance to the lower site with the stadium, and easy to include in a visit.

 

The tombs, identified as number 28 and 29, are located on the side of the road between the villages of Ploçe and Amonica (an information board is visible on the roadside as you enter or leave the site) and are part of the northeastern necropolis of the ancient city of Amantia.

 

Tomb 28 is nearest the road. It is a monumental tomb constructed from large limestone blocks on a platform. Originally the tomb had a vaulted cover and seems to have had a brick masonry chamber within it, now completely destroyed. Preliminary investigations suggest that the ceramics inside the tomb are dated to the 3^rd and 2^nd centuries BCE.

View from above 

Tomb 29 is adjacent to 28 and to the east (behind it if you are viewing from the road). It is a simple structure with walls of brick masonry and roofed with large stone slabs, two of which are still as the site. The objects inside the tomb have also been dated to the 3^rd/2^nd centuries BCE.

Cover slabs from Tomb 29

The information panel at the site shows some finds from the tombs, including a reconstructed glass bowl made from the ‘network’ mosaic technique. The technique involves canes of spiralled threads of coloured glass laid side by side and rolled, then molded. It is a very sophisticated and labour-intensive technique, practiced by craftsmen from the Eastern Mediterranean. Bowls like this were highly prized and have been found at in tombs at a number of sites in Roman Italy. They are usually dated to between 200-100BCE. The presence of such a high quality object in the tomb shows the standard of living of the elite of Amantia at this time.

 

Further reading

 

https://www.kultplus.com/trashegimia/germime-arkeologjike-ne-amantia-zbulohet-struktura-arkitektonike-e-varrit-monumental/

https://newsbomb.net/zbulim-arkeologjik-ne-amantia-cfare-u-gjet-ne-varrin-e-lashte-foto/

https://telegrafi.com/amantia-dhe-varret-e-saj/