Fieldwork at Risan and Novae, season 2003

Abstract

The site lies in the territory of the modern town of Risan, situated on the northern arm of the Boka Kotorska bay, otherwise known as Risan Bay, 11 km northwest of Kotor. Risan occupies a natural cavea formed by limestone hills sparsely overgrown by typical Mediterranean flora. Two mountain ridges encase the location, the highest peaks being Stole (945 m a.s.l.) and Usanik (844 m a.s.l.). Overlooking the town is the Gradine mount (132 m a.s.l.) with remnants of an Illyrian fortress crowning the top. The river Spila - all of 300 m long - springs from the hills. Mentions of Rhizon appear mostly in geographical and ethnographical studies of the eastern Adriatic coastline. The oldest record is in Pseudo-Scylax. In fragments 24 and 25, this author of the second half of the 4th century BC refers to an emporion that lay by the "Rhizon lake" and of the river Arion (Fig.1).