TIRANA, June 14 – Polish archaeologists in Albania said they discovered the over 2000-year-old Illyrian city of Bassania in Albania.
The fortress discovered by the scientists was thought to be destroyed by the Romans at the beginning of our era and its ruins were considered to be natural rocks until now.
The city was unexpectedly found in Shkoder, Northwestern Albania.
Although not completely sure yet, scientists have reason to believe the ruins belong to the city of Bassania, which was described by Roman historian Livy (59 BC – 17 AD) during Roman battles with the last King of Illyria, Gentius.
During May archaeologists uncovered part of the city’s walls and gate.
“The defensive structures were erected from well-fitted, huge stone blocks,” said Prof. Piotr Dyczek, head of the extradition and director of the Antiquity of Southeastern Europe Research Centre of the University of Warsaw.
Three meter wide defensive walls also led to two bastions, which were also uncovered – their external parts were made of profiled stone blocks while the space between them was filled with small stones and earth.
Dyczek said this kind of defensive construction discovered is typically Hellenistic, while the dating is also supported by other objects discovered near the walls, such as coins and ceramic vessels from IV-I century BC.
From these findings, archaeologists have deducted the city functioned at the time of the Illyrian kingdom, which ceased to exist after Roman invasion.
“In recent years, we have begun to look around Shkoder for settlements and fortresses that were its economic and military base. Thanks to the use of various methods, including non-invasive ones, we have located relics of a huge ancient city,” described Prof. Dyczek.
To researchers’ surprise, the city appears to have been quite bigger than the ancient Shkodra, as massive stones surrounded an area of about 20 hectares.
However, researchers said they wonder about the lack of information from travellers from few hundred years ago for the city.
“This silence of the travellers, who described the other, even small sites and individual ruins with extraordinary meticulousness, is quite puzzling. The reason could be that the city had ceased to exist so long ago that its name was forgotten,” one of the archaeologists said.
According to the archaeologists, the city had so far escaped attention due to its specific geological structure made of conglomerates and sandstones.
“After centuries of erosion, the remnants of stone structures looming on the surface resemble a natural geological structure coming out onto the surface, rather than structures intentionally built by man,” described on of the scientists.
