Summer ’24 with the Centre III

We spent the last four weeks significantly expanding last year’s dig in what we call Sector 5. There are many indications that this sector, located on a small plateau between the highest hill on the site (where the local acropolis can be situated) and the valley where the city developed, was occupied by public and cultic buildings. This hypothesis is reinforced by the uncovering last season of a large building very similar to Greek hestiatoria from that period (4th century BCE). In the 2024 season, we added to the general plan of this part of the site a wide, almost monumental (compared to other settlements known from the region of northern Albania) stone staircase that then transitions into a paved street or possibly a square. Capturing the first known thoroughfare in Bushat will make it easier in the future to reconstruct the urban layout within the walls.

“Something ends, something begins,” one could say, quoting a classic. Now, driven by an insatiable hunger for further archaeological adventures, our team has moved to Risan in Montenegro. However, the personnel for the next month will differ slightly from that in Albania: the excellent field specialist Adam Jarych has just arrived at the Bay of Kotor, while Bartosz Wojciechowski and Krzysztof Narloch are returning to Poland. The invaluable drafter and ceramologist Agata Momot remains on site. The overall supervision of the archaeological works will be taken over by Janusz Recław, supported by the experienced Prof. Piotr Dyczek, whose keen gaze through a brand-new pair of glasses can penetrate epochs.

If you are curious about our progress in adding further pieces to this magnificent puzzle called the antiquity of Southeastern Europe, visit our website, also on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/antiquity_research_centre?igsh=aHhrb2JrcXQyZDBq