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Archaeological research brings important evidence on Koman culture

2024-07-16 22:54:51, Kulturë CNA

Archaeological research brings important evidence on Koman culture

Archaeological research, Koman. Source, VOA

In Albania, the Koman culture continues to arouse the interest of researchers for its features, geographical space and extent from the Illyrian period to the Arberian period. For 10 years, a Franco-Albanian archaeological mission, consisting of 40 experts and archaeologists, continues to bring to light important elements of this culture.

In the archeology pavilion, in the Historical Museum of Shkodra, there are exhibited important objects belonging to the Koman Culture.

The researcher Zamir Tafilica says that until 1949, when the Museum of Shkodra was opened, the collection of Koman objects was kept in the museum of the Jesuits and that of the Franciscans of Shkodra.

"They are mainly burial objects, discovered long ago, before the Second World War, and the credit goes to the French consul of Shkodra Degrand, who lived for several years in Shkodra and, like many other foreign researchers, dealt with Albanianology and culture, mainly in the northern highlands. He was well versed in archeology and saw some objects of unique value in terms of their forms, functions and symbolism. They are mostly made of bronze," he says.

The objects exhibited in the Museum of Shkodra have unique values ??that testify to a high culture and the continuity of life in this territory from the Illyrians to the Albanians of the Middle Ages.

"They are objects of great importance because they express the pure archaeological arguments of the connection of the Illyrian culture with the arboreal culture, that is, with the medieval Albanian or arboreal culture, as it is called otherwise. Because, in general, they are the same forms, the same decorations, functions of ornaments that we find since the Iron Age in the Illyrian lands"

Archaeological excavations in Koman began in 1898 and continue to this day, bringing numerous evidences of the continuity of the Koman Culture and beyond.

For 15 years, a Franco-Albanian archaeological mission has undertaken a research and study program with the participation of about 40 specialists and archaeologists, extending to the lower valley of the Drin, where there are three settlements: that of Koman, Sarda and Lisus.

This territory, says archaeologist Etleva Nallbani, who leads the Franco-Albanian archaeological mission, reflects the dynamics of the formation and functioning of medieval societies in this part of the Western Balkans.

"The data, which includes a chronological period of 900 years, testify to the largest medieval cemetery so far, in Koman, excavated in the Albanian territory, where a part of the graves belong to families and where they were buried for generations", she says.

The achievements so far of the Franco-Albanian archaeological mission, according to archaeologist Nallbani, lie first in the discovery of the structure of three settlements, which testify to an extraordinary construction dynamic of the urban network, but also the organization of the territory, aspects that are followed by the decline of the Roman system until the Ottoman conquest and which speak of the preservation and transmission of heritage.

"Many identified churches, of which 14 have been excavated in Sardis, 9 in Koman and 3 in the upper city of Lezha alone, testify to Albanian authority in all aspects of city life, where each neighborhood is organized around at least one building the cult".

Albanian archeology continues to be enriched with new findings from archaeological expeditions in Northern Albania. Currently, the Franco-Albanian archaeological expedition of the lower Drin valley and the Polish-Albanian one of Bushati are operating in this area, an archaeological area discovered in recent years./ VOA