Il nuovo rilievo delle mura arcaiche di Butrinto (Albania)

This paper presents the results of a survey using Laser Scanning on the fortification walls of the acropolis at Butrint, carried out in 2021-2022 by the University of Bologna and the Institute of Archaeology of Tirana (co-directors E. Giorgi and B. Muka). Various masonry techniques used to construct and repair the walls provide a stratigraphy of the site’s development. The oldest defensive wall, partially preserved on the south side of the plateau, is traditionally considered to date to the archaic era, but was reworked in Roman times and later incorporated into the Late Medieval fortification. Uncertainty about the earliest phases of occupation and fortification caused the project to re-examine the acropolis data. The new research commenced with a more accurate topographic survey of the walls to properly study the foundation and development of the monument and assess its state of conservation. A discussion of the digital recording, analysis of standing structures and literature review of previous investigations on the acropolis allow some preliminary considerations to be formulated regarding the features of Butrint’s archaic walls. Simultaneous to the survey, two sondages in the emplekton of the walls provide more detailed stratigraphic and chronological data in which to contextualise these observations.