Fieldwork at Scodra 2011

Abstract

Scodra (Alb. Shkodër 1 ) lies in northern Albania on the eastern shore of Lake Shkodër, in a place where three rivers converge: the drin, the Buna and the Kiri. With 113 000 inhabitants it is one of the largest cities in the country. Recently, no large scale excavations have been carried out at Scodra, 2 even though the likes of Theodor Ippen, Albanologist and Austro-hungarian consul, Baron Franz Nopcsa, hungarian palaeontologist and Arthur Evans, known for his discoveries at Knossos, undertook brief investigations here in the 19th and early 20th c. however, a new ambitious scientific project is bound to change the dissatisfying state of knowledge. 3 It is known from written sources 4 that in the 2nd c. BC thecapital of thelast Illyrian ruler Gentios was located at Scodra, and earlier during Illyria’s prime in the 3rd c. BC Agron and his wife Teuta also ruled their lands from there. By 168 BC the entire territory was under the Roman control. Scodra became an important centre of trade and communication.