A Hellenistic Period Sanctuary at Vau i Dejës, Northern Albania – a ‘Road Sanctuary’ between the Adriatic and the Central Balkans?

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Andreas Oettel
• Subject Area: Classical, Roman, Christian and Islamic Archaeology ; Ancient History ; Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: from 2020 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 441615820

The project focusses on a Hellenistic sanctuary at Vau i Dejës (Northern Albania) which was discovered in only 2015. The small village is located in the northeast of the Zadrima plain which extends between the modern cities of Shkodra and Lezha, formerly the ancient poleis of Skodra and Lissos. To date, the site has been known only for the discovery of a votive bronze hand associated with the oriental god Sabazios. The Austrian archaeologists Camillo Praschniker and Arnold Schober who, visiting Northern Albania and Montenegro during WWI, qualified Vau i Dejës as an important station on their trip from Shkodra to the late Roman fort at Vig. The substantial Drin river could be crossed only near Vau i Dejës, where it leaves the mountains. In antiquity a road already led through the Drin valley towards the Central Balkans.The site which is located on a hill at the eastern exit of the village is marked by a rugged rock surface and was hence unsuitable for settlement purposes. Brief inspections led to the discovery of a surprisingly large amount of ceramic fragments and coins, mainly along the southern slope above the disruptions brought about by a recent construction site. The remarkably rich and instructive finds consist chiefly of sherds from fine Hellenistic ceramics and further of about a dozen of terracotta fragments from a female deity as well as ten Hellenistic coins. In addition, there were some vessel fragments and two coins from the late Roman period. Not one single object could be attributed to the Roman Period (1st-3rd centuries AD). The archaeological evidence suggests that the sanctuary at Vau i Dejës was abandoned during the so-called Illyrian-Pannonian revolt (6-9 AD).The recently discovered site at Vau i Dejës is consequently the only sanctuary from the Hellenistic-Roman era to be archaeologically attested on Albania’s territory north of Dyrrachion/Durres.The purpose of the project at Vau i Dejës is to document the archaeological evidence in a rescue excavation. Its aim is on the one hand to record the still remaining evidence needed for the site’s interpretation and chronological classification and on the other, to comprehend the archaeological contexts of the Hellenistic votive offerings and those pertaining to the finds from late antiquity.By analysing the material it is hoped that comprehensive insight into the sanctuary’s chronology is gained and that an assumed reuse in late antiquity is confirmed. The site’s particular archaeological relevance is further to be put into perspective as the most likely origin of the votive hand of Sabazios from ‘Vau i Dejës’, today kept in Albania’s National Museum in Tirana. The question thus arises as to whether the site once represented a roadside sanctuary between the Adriatic Coast and the Central Balkans, where travellers were able to bestow, among others, ‘exotic’ votive offerings.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Albania
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Gezim Hoxha