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Centre for Albanian Cultural Heritage - Trakult CentreRr. Sulejman Delvina 40, Shkalla 2, 7/4, Tiranë

trakultinfo@gmail.com mob. +355 (0) 69 21 75579www.trakult.wordpress.com

Newsletter Issue nr. 3

Trakult Centre, new future by Karen Knigt

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From 7th to 26th of July in Butrint will be held the research archaeological project at the Trian-gular Fortress. This project aims:To establish secure construction sequences dates for the life span of the castle. documentary research shows.To attempt to correlate evidence from the ar-chaeological project with known historical events.More on the project results you will be noticed in the next issue.

This special issue is dedicated entirely to the excavation at the Triangular Fortress in Butrint. The following pages are parts of report that was prepared and presented to the Butrint Foundation by the Centre for Cultural Heritage – Trakult Centre in August 2014.

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Triangular FortressHistorical Archaeology of Butrint

This report undertakes to represent the work of the Centre for Albanian Cultural Heritage (Trakult Centre) in the frame of its Triangular Fortress Project (TFP), carried out with fi-nancial support of the Butrint Foundation.

The report has been prepared by:Ilir Parangoni

Centre for Albanian Cultural Heritage (Trakult Centre) – Report, August 2014. Front-cover: View of the Triangular Fortress during Italian mission in the interwar years.

Copyright © 2014, Trakult Centre Centre for Albanian Cultural Heritage Rr. Sulejman Delvina, 40, 4/7 Tirana, Albania Tel: +355 (0) 69 21 75579 trakultinfo@gmail.com www.trakult.wordpress.com

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We would like to express our deep gratitude to the Butrint Foundation who has generously funded the research project at the Triangular Fortress in 2014.

Thanks go to Prof. Luan Përzhita (Director of the Institute of Archaeology) for his help and decisions taken during the fieldwork phase as well as Prof. Dhim-

itër Condi (County Archaeologist) for his assistance.

A special thanks goes to Mr. Brian Ayers for his professional consultation about medieval castles and fortifications in the preliminary phase of research.

We wish to extend our thanks to the former director of the Butrint National Park Mr. Raimond Kola for his collaboration and assistance that he provided

with his team during the project of the Triangular Fortress.

The process of research and field study phase would not be possible without the help of assistants who participated in this project thanks goes to all of

them: The excavation would not have been possible without the hard work of the fol-lowing site and finds assistants, and technicians – thanks are extended to them all: Eriona Qilla (Archaeologist at the Butrint National Park), Mirgen Shah-metaj (archaeologist/designer), Andy Crowson, Oliver Gilkes Joanita Vroom,

Samantha Garwood and to all of our friends for their help.

Acknowledgement

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Project background

Between 6th and 26th July 2014 an archaeological research project was carried out at the Tri-angular Fortress, in collaboration with the Albanian Institute of Archaeology and was funded thanks to a generous grant from the Butrint Foundation. The overall aim of the project was to shed light on late Butrint (16th – 19th centuries) focusing on one of the most substantial monuments of this period, the Triangular Fortress (Fig. 1).

In the frame of later Butrint research, surveys visits were carried out in the area around the site of Butrint and the castle of Borsh pointing to identify elements of this period in a wider geographical context. It is worth to remember that this coastal area of southern Albania was part of the old Byzantine province known as Vagenetia that appears in historical documents until the 15th century.

Great assistance during the project was offered by the Butrint National Park. The group of monument workers undertook vegetation cleaning on the fortress’s structures and in the surrounding area for two consecutive days (Fig. 2 a-b). Further, together with the Butrint National Park authorities it was agreed in principle to explore ways of cooperating over a conservation project for the Triangular Fortress based on the results of the 2014 season. This initiative would represent one of the main objectives within the framework of an effective management plan of the monument in the future.

Fig. 1 West view of the Triangular Fortress, Butrint

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Fig. 2 a-b Monuments maintenance workers during vegetation cleaning

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Research and methodology

Previous studies, have provided solutions to many issues, but had raised several others relat-ing to chronology, phasing and the context in which late monuments were built. For these reasons, the study conducted during the summer of 2014 at the Triangular Fortress was de-signed to aim: • Establishing a secure chronology for the life-span of the monument. • To prove if there is a medieval or ancient predecessor and if so can its construction date be determined archaeologically? • Identification of construction phases in and around the fort through archaeological exca-vation, defining the physical relations between them and attempting to link with historical events.• Linking the phasing of the Triangular Fortress to the well-known studies of Venetian castles at Corfu (and elsewhere in Greece) as well as in the eastern Adriatic.• Preparing a basis for a potential conservation plan of the Triangular Fortress based on the project results of 2014.

In achieving the above goals, it was thought to undertake initially a documentary research on the typology of the fortress in order to improve its understanding; consulting geophysics study done earlier by the Butrint Foundation and other previous studies on this topic. Refer-ring to these, the field research methodology was applied through: • A new structural survey of the fort to better understand construction techniques and their phases. • Excavations of four test pits in and outside the Triangular Fortress aiming to reach the ear-liest phase of the perimeter wall (Fig. 3). • Re-examining the previous excavated trench at the junction between the north-eastern cur-tain and tower III by cleaning the old sections and making limited interventions for docu-menting and understating previous excavation. • Documenting foundation walls that are visible on interior and exterior of the fort.

Fig. 3 Plan of the Triangular Fortress

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Conclusion

Trial excavations at the Triangular Fortress during season 2014 have added important infor-mation relating to the constructions, phases and understating of this monument in Butrint. Results were able to respond some of the questions raised at the beginning of the research, while raising other issues that will form the basis for future research. Generally, the main conclusions of this season can be summarised as the follow:

The early phase of construction of the Triangular Fortress seems to have been built on swampy environment which had oriented the construction of curtain walls. As it was proved in Trenches 2 and 3, the curtain walls of the triangular enclosure were erected on wooden beams providing a base that was both flexible and solid enough to support a substantial structure above ground, which would not sink into the swamp (Fig 4).

Fig. 4 showing beam cross placed on to which the southern curtain wall rises, trench 2

Another significant outcome of this season was the clarification of physical relations be-tween the southern tower and the curtain walls. As it was seen in the trenches 1 and 5 the foundation of southern tower abuts the curtain walls both of its parts. As results, it can be suggested that the initial phase of the fortress, as Karaiskaj rightly identified early, could have been a triangular shape without towers on the edges. Construction of the southern tower seems to belong to another phase, which referring to the wall’s construction technique and material used in both structures, suggests that the southern tower would have been erected not too much later than that of the curtain wall.

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Concerning the architectural features outside the southern gate, it can be say that during excavation in Trench 2 it was not possible to find any clue of a possible ditch along the southern wall and main entrance as the maps of the time show. Reclamation works carried out in the Vrina plain during 1960-70s may have destroyed what could have been an advanced triangular bastion, ravelin, defending the southern entrance. Finding of a communist-era iron cable in trench 5 to a depth of about 90 cm from the surface further supports this idea.

Finally, to west-northeast outside the fort were found architectural elements and other finds showing, as the engravings of the time, for erection of a small village around the Triangular Fortress which served mainly as a point of embarkation for goods (timbers, olive and fish). The continuous presence of imported wares dating to 16th-19th centuries from Italy and painted ware of Grottaglie/Corfu found during excavation, suggested that exchanges of the Late Butrint/Triangular Fortress were still active with north and central Italy, the region of Apulia and Corfu until the end of 19th century despite its political administration under the ottomans.

A possible 3D reconstruction of the Triangular Fortress in 18th -19th century

Post excavation

During the archaeological excavations at the Triangular Fortress glazed and coarse ceram-ics were found dating to the 16th century and later. Glass and iron objects were also found in almost every trench sometimes associated with iron and stone cannon-ball of different size. All finds compose significant evidence for dating spot and further study of Triangular Fortress character at different stages. They are being processed and the results will be for-warded to the Butrint Foundation in the future.

It was previously agreed in principle with the Butrint National Park for cooperation opportunities in a conservation programme for the Triangular Fortress based on the 2014 results. A programme for possible conservation project will be submitted to the Butrint Foundation in the future.

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