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Promotion of the ICAA Monograph Series Nr. 2
THE COMPLEX OF TUMULI 9, 10 and 11 in the NECROPOLIS of APOLLONIA (ALBANIA) by Maria Grazia Amore
On April 20, 2010 in the hall “Aleks Buda” of the Academy of Sciences was held the promotion of the new publication of the ICAA Monograph Series
Changes were brought to the “Cultural Heritage Law”
Recently some important changes were brought to the “Cultural Heritage Law” approved in 2003.
Field projects
Via Egnatia Project
Introduction
After initial
discussion and the identification of an extended bibliography of
Via Egnatia, sites, monuments, and historical events connected
directly or indirectly with the ancient route, the Albanian
Rescue Archaeology Unit in co-operation with the Institute of
Archaeology decided to organise a brief survey of the area
between Bradashesh (identified as the mansio Ad Quintum of the
Roman itineraries) near Elbasan, and Qukës (where the mutatio In
Tabernas of the Itinerarium Burdigalense or Tres Tabernae of the
Antonine Itinerary can be situated)[1]. There
are multiple reasons why we started the survey from this
particular area:
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first, because there are many known monuments connected to Via Egnatia, we wanted to check their state of preservation on the ground;
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second, because in this region the most intensive work is being carried out on the construction of the new “8th Corridor”;
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third, because this area corresponds with that tract of Via Egnatia where the two branches (one coming from Dyrrachium and the other from Apollonia) joined together, just west of Elbasan, and at Qukës two directions start off again (one towards Qafë Thana and the Albanian-Macedonian border, and the second towards Mokra-Korça and the Albanian-Greek border);
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and finally, because from Mirakë to Qukës, the Via Egnatia climbed high above the left bank of the Shkumbin river and ran along the mountainside, away from the main modern road, thus offering greater potential for the preservation of the ancient pavement of the road and monuments.
The goals
The goals of this first brief survey, which was carried out from
6th to 14th of May 2000, were: to check the situation on the ground
of the monuments and of the work for the construction of the new
road; to identify monuments where the project can make the best
investment of time and resources in order to produce fresh
information; to gain a better understanding of the complexity of the
Project and consequently set up a detailed plan for study and future
interventions.
Survey
On these basis we started our survey with the bridge at Topçias
near Elbasan, on the branch of the Via Egnatia that comes from
Apollonia, very close to the meeting point with the branch from
Durrës.
Figura 1: Map of central
Albania showing sites mentioned in the text
From the bridge, we went on to visit some
important monuments near Elbasan: Castrum, Mansi, the basilica at
Tepe, and the mansio Ad Quintum in Bradashesh.
Recent excavations of Ylli Cerova in Castrum has produced new data
on the site’s stratigraphy, plan, and architecture, as well as
identifing a new cultural layer dating to the first centuries AD,
before the actual foundation of the Castrum itself.
Figura 2: Basilica at
Tepe
Another place we visited was one called Mansi.
Based on the written sources, which mention among other station of
the Via Egnatia “mansio Hiscampis”, we breafly visited the area in
order to see and ask for ancient remains that would correspond to a
mansio. Except for names such as the river of Manasderia and the oak
of Mansi we did not find any archaeological evidence related to the
mentioned station. However, there is information from research done
13 years ago relating to Cerova, consisting of Roman pottery sherds
from the area below the hill of Mansi. A proper survey needs to be
done here if any further information is to be gained.
The next site we visited was the 4th century AD basilica at Tepe,
excavated in the 1970’s by N. Ceka and A. Meksi[2].
Unfortunately, there was considerable damage to the walls of the
basilica as well as to the graves within it (Figure 2). On the other
hand, the mansio Ad Quintum[3] (Figure 3) was much
better preserved and could be very easily accessed by visitors
travelling along the modern 8th Corridor.
Figura 3: Mutatio
Ad Quintum at Bradashesh
Moving eastward from Elbasan, we surveyed the
late Antique hill-top site of Mengel. Ylli Cerova did a plan of the
site in 1999 and an excavation of one of the towers of the
fortification wall (not published). Some pictures were taken of a
probable Iron Age wall that goes around the hill at a lower
elevation than the late Antique one. Bejko and Gjipali attempted
also to follow traces of a possible Roman pipe-line, but did not
find strong evidence to confirm its existence.
Continuing towards the East, we stopped at the village of Labinot
Fushë where there is a very easily accessible Turkish bridge over
the përroi Gurra e Labinotit (a tributary of Shkumbin). This
monument is in quite good condition and only needs a little effort
to bring it to the attention of travellers along the new “Via
Egnatia”.
When we arrived in the village of Xibrakë, on the old bed of river
Graboza, we found and made a photographic record of a bridge pile
probably not in situ. According to the information of a local
worker, a few years ago also some parts of an old paved road were
visible; unfortunately this no longer exist.
An impressive rock rises over the right bank of Shkumbin here: it is
known as Shkëmbi Mbret, and is mentioned by N. Ceka in its article
on the archaeology of Shkumbin river valley[4]. We
climbed it and made a quick survey; fortification walls were almost
totally ruined and we found some pottery on the surface (which we
took samples of) as well as many small and not very deep looter’s
holes. It is very sad to think that even the walls have been ruined
by “human agency”, especially when, according to Ceka’s report, two
decades ago these walls were preserved up to 60 cm high.
In the late 1970’s and 1980’s an interesting historic-ethnographic
museum was set up in Librazhd. We visited the museum with the goal
of making a photographic record of the archaeological objects, and
of getting more information on our earlier observations on Via
Egnatia. The museum was in a critical condition, after many years of
neglect, but we could still see some good photos of the Via
Egnatia’s paved fragments and bridges from the area between Mirakë
and Qukës.
Later on we stopped at the bridge ura e Keçit. Close to the place
where the rivers Gostima and Shkumbin meet there are three piers
still preserved. However, our visit was in the spring when river
deposits were covering them to almost half of their height. We
thought that it would be useful to clean these piers in order to
better understand their construction technique, date and plan.
After this we drove towards Guri i Borës (known also as Qytek/Qytezë).
Half way there we had to leave the car and walk, because the
abandoned road was very badly eroded. After some difficult climbing
we saw some stone blocks, that could be the remains of walls, and
found some late Antique pottery scattered on the surface. There were
also many looter’s holes.
At Mirakë, the Via Egnatia leaves the Shkumbin river valley and
climbs high above the left bank of Shkumbin to run along the
mountainside. The bridge of Haxhi Beqari situated here could have
been the spot where the road crossed the river but the picture is
not totally clear (Figure 4). Another bridge, some 200 meters above
Haxhi Beqari, might also have served as a crossing point, with the
road continuing back to Haxhi Beqari where it started climbing
higher up. Written records support this second version, at least for
the later periods[5]. On the highground we could
follow the ancient road (“vroma”, as the villagers call it), that
goes up to the top of the hill.
Figura 4: Remains of
structure at ura e Haxhi Beqarit
The older local people say that the road follows the ancient route until Babje, but has been restored by the Italians in the 1930’s (from what we could see, the pavement of the road can be dated to a very recent period indeed). Locals remember the fact that this is the road that leads to Istanbul going through Struga (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia). They also recall the existence of two hane (the Turkish name for stations along the road), but we were unable to see architectural remains.Once past a place called Gjurma e Mushkës, the old road followed a different route from the recent one.
Figura 5: Fragment of paved Byzantine road at Spathar
Before entering Spatharë, we saw a natural spring
and were told that near here was located another han, remains of
which are not visible. Quite close to here we saw and recorded a
very well preserved fragment of an old paved road (Figure 5), which
might be part of the post-Roman road (probably Byzantine). From here
the road leads to an open area known as Rrafjet e Spatharit. Our
first impression is that this is a suitable habitation and
agricultural area. A quick survey in the field sheshi i Qarrit,
identified some major concentrations of sherds as well as tiles and
bricks (building material). We took some samples that preliminarily
can be dated to the late Roman period.
Figura 6: Different road lines that lead to the bridge at Gurrat e Zeza
Walking from sheshi i Qarrit in the direction of
Qukës, we approached the first cluster of houses belonging to the
village of Dardhë. The wide, open field here, known to the locals as
Guri i Kuq, had remains of walls and ceramics. These ruins are known
as Hanet e Prosekut.
Before arriving at Gurrat e Dardhës, we went through the place
called Bregu i Devesë, previously known as Bregu i Hanit. East of
here the road made a number of zig-zags, going down towards Gurrat e
Zeza (Figure 6). Here the old road probably followed a different
route from the modern one. Locals say that on the eastern side of
Bregu i Hanit, are remains of numerous houses, which we did not get
a chance to see. However, we produced a photographic record of the
bridge over the Gurrat e Zeza, which is a good example of Roman
masonry (Figure 7). A more careful observation of this monument
suggests that it underwent probably two phases of construction. From
the bridge to Bregu i Konstantinit, are fairly well preserved
supporting walls of the old Roman road. These are walls made of
middle size irregular blocks that stand one over the other without
any kind of binding material.
Figura 7: Ure Romake e
pershtatur per perdorim bashkekohor
At the open area after Bregu i Konstantinit, the Via Egnatia followed a different line from the Turkish road. Locals, however, call the later as Via Egnatia (reaching up to a width of 6.20 m). Not far from Bregu i Konstantinit was Bregu i Laçkës. To the South of Bregu i Laçkës were the ruins of Hani i Hoxhës. Very close to Hani i Hoxhës we identified parts of the pavement of the Roman road, almost 10 m long and 3.00–3.50 m wide (Figure 8). Without doubt this is the best example of remains we have identified so far. They need more attention, cleaning, sectioning and mapping for a proper understanding of the techniques of road building.
Figura 8: Roman bridge
adapted for contemporary use
Continuing our way eastward, we arrived at a group of houses (lagja e Malit), part of the village of Xhyrë. A secondary Roman road (known by the locals as Shkallë) branches off from the main one climbing towards Qyteza e Xhyrës (Figure 9). Immediately east of this we identified two small bridges dating from the Turkish period. The first of these was a single arched bridge, while only the piers were preserved from the second. At Rrafjet e Xhyrës we took more pictures of supporting walls of the road and headed towards Katundi Plakë from where we had information on archaeological remains. After a quick survey we did not identify proper walls, but only piles of medium and small size rocks and a number of ceramic fragments.
Figura 9: Fragment of
the Roman road at Hani i Hoxhes
From the upper Qukës the Via Egnatia started to descend towards the lower Qukës (better known as Qukës Shkumbin). In the backyard of Gani Nezha’s house we saw the remains of another bridge, which was without doubt a Roman monument. The owner of the house offered us hospitality as well as fresh water and old stories on the road and its history. He also provided some useful information on other small bridges along the fragment of road from here to the lower Qukës, where another major bridge was built to recross the Shkumbin river (Figure 10).
Figura 10: Pier of the
arched Roman bridge over Shkumbin at Qukes
Comments
At the end of our first survey of the area between Elbasan and
Qukës we realised that there is a great potential not only for
tracing the route of the Via Egnatia (in its broader sense including
pre- and post-Roman road) but also for providing new information on
its history. A number of impressive monuments such as bridges Ura e
Topçiasit, Ura e Haxhi Beqarit, Ura e Keçit, Ura e Qukësit, Ura e
Gurrave të Zeza are in danger of destruction from natural as well as
human causes.
We were very happy to find out that via Egnatia was deeply
marked in the historical conscience of the local communities of the
area of our survey. They, however, need help not only to revive that
conscience but also to use it for understanding other people’s
cultures and histories, to use it as a bridge towards their future.
The Topçias bridge
In July we focused our attention on the bridge of Topçias, with
the aim of producing as complete a documentation of the monument as
possible. It is a long bridge of fifteen identifiable piles, with a
total length of approximately 450 m. We made a tentative effort to
clean some of the piers located in the dry areas of the valley, but
soon realised that the river deposits were very deep and it would
require much more time and energy to remove them properly. For this
reason, it was decided to use heavy machinery and clear the deposits
in order to get the exact plan of the piers and make a detailed
description of their masonry.
Praschniker and Schober documented this bridge in 1919[6] . Their plan is shown in figure 11 (the piles filled with black
colour are the ones they could actually see), and a view from 1919
is shown in figure 12. The view nowadays is not much different
(Figure 13), however, the plan we made has many new elements and
features (Figure 14).
Figure 11: The plan of Topcias bridge, Praschniker and Schober 1919
Until now it has been assumed that this
monument was built during one period, and restored later in various
parts. Instead we had the impression that there were different
phases—in particular we were intrigued by the fact that the bridge
changes direction with an angle of 125° after the 5th pile—and we
decided to excavate around the most crucial piles to better study
the technique of construction and to produce a more complete and
detailed record.
Figure 12: View of
Topcias bridge, Praschniker and Schober 1919
We concentrated our efforts around the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 12th piles, while the others are presently submerged in water. Results show that just the first five piles, one quarter of the total length, composed the Roman bridge. This can be explained by the fact that the riverbed and the valley were much narrower when it was originally constructed.
Figure 13: General view
of the bridge
In the Byzantine period the river flow changed
direction and the valley became wider. It became necessary to alter
the direction of the bridge and increase its length: the 5th pile
was modified, and the piles from the 6th to the 11th were added.
Later, probably in the Ottoman period, the river flow changed again:
the 5th pile was modified for the second time, and the last four
piles were constructed.
The Roman piles have solid foundations with big blocks of tufa and
limestone, on which there is a platform made of one course of blocks
(Figure 15); the blocks, under the pressure from the flow, are
reinforced with iron cramps. The pillar with its breakwater are set
on the platform. The facing, built with quadrilateral blocks, is not
arranged regularly, and the irregularities are filled with small
stones or pieces of bricks. The core consists in rubble and mortar.
Figure 14: Plan of
Topcias bridge produced by the project with a Total Station
Figure 15 a: Pile no. 4,
with its foundation and platform
Figure 15 b: Pile no. 4, with its foundation and platform
The 3rd pile, that was the central one in the Roman bridge, has an impressive platform 10 m long on one side and 15 m on the other one, circa (Figure 16); this could show that the river current was very impetuous. Some of the blocks of the Roman piles are decorated with a rustica; they must be reused from a previous monument: could it be a pre-existent Hellenistic bridge?
Figure 16: Pile no. 3 of the bridge and its long platform
Very interesting is the 5th pile, where the bridge curves and where are represented all the three phases of construction. To the typical Roman pile in the Byzantine period were added, on the NW side, a buttress now badly preserved; on the E side two prolongations (one of them was later rebuilt with an angle, to break the flow more efficiently). They are built with irregular and different sized stones, bonded with a lot of mortar.
Figure 17: Different masonry of pile no. 5 of the bridge
In the Ottoman period a multi-faced wall was
erected around all these structures, made of small regular white
stones (Figure 17). The breakwater is almost on the same line with
the Roman one (Figure 18).
Figure 18: Planimetria e
kembes nr. 5 te ures (punuar nga Elio Hobdari)
All the piles of the post-roman period try to
imitate the Roman building technique, but the foundations are not
very stable and many of them have collapsed. They are also smaller
than the earlier ones: from more than 10 m length of the Roman, to
the almost 8 m in the Byzantine, to less than 6 m in the Ottoman
period.
Controversial is the issue of the superstructure of the bridge: in
none of the piles were found curved surfaces that could lead to the
conclusion of an arched bridge. Arises the hypothesis of a wooden
structure, like the ones of the bridge of Apollodoro across the
Danube[7], or the bridge of Trèves[8],
both of the 2nd century AD.
[1]K. Miller, Itineraria Romana, Stuttgart 1916: 516-518; O. Cuntz, Itineraria Romana, Leipzig 1929: 329, 608.
[2]N. Ceka, “Veshtrim arkeologjik mbi rrethin e Elbasanit”, Monumentet 3, 1972: 7-33.
[3]N. Ceka dhe L. Papajani, “Nymfeu dhe termet e stacionit Ad Quintum” Monumentet 4, 1972: 29-57.
[4]N. Ceka dhe L. Papajani, “Rruga ne luginen e Shkumbinit ne kohen antike” Monumentet 1, 1971: 49.
[5] N. G. L. Hammond, “The Western Part of Via Egnatia” The Journal of Roman Archaeology, vol. LXIV, 1974: 185-194.
[6]C. Praschniker dhe A. Schober, “Archäeologische Forschungen in Albanien und Montenegro", Vienna 1919.
[7]C.
O’Connor, Roman Bridges. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1993:
144, fig. 118.
[8]R.
Chevallier, Les Voies Romaines, Paris 1997: 147, fig. 86a.