Report: Archaeological digs in Italy and Albania

Farnese - Photo: ©Lars Hofflin

From Rome, I boarded a train to the seaside town of Montalto di Castro, which has the closest station to the archaeological site of Vulci - the area around Vulci is relatively depopulated. At the station I was met by other members of the dig team (who hail from the University of Lunt and Gothenburg), and we drove to our accommodation. For the duration of the excavations, we stayed in a small medieval town called Farnese (population ca. 1500), which is situated in the mountains further inland from Vulci, among the ‘Brigand Trails’ (part of which I took the opportunity of hiking). The medieval town center of Farnese lies on a fortified hill with a viaduct connecting adjacent hills which are now settled by a ring of homesteads.

Photographs, drawings and measurements of Hellenistic pottery - Photo: ©Lars Hofflin

The fieldwork at Vulci involved in all parts of the excavating, from the removal of topsoil, the squaring of trench-edges, the excavation of contexts, the recording of our work through entries in the site workbook, logged archaeological photographs, as well as using photogrammetry to 3D model a trench. Additionally, I took part in the washing, cataloguing, data-basing, and packing away of all the excavated material. It was an exciting season at Vulci, with much fine grade pottery, some well-preserved loom-weights, and some bronze being retrieved. I studied ca. 300 B.C. Hellenistic black glazed palmette stamped pottery. I examined them closely, recorded measurements, made drawings, and took photographs for my thesis.

Lars at an archaeological dig - Photo: ©Lars Hofflin

The Swedish dig team was lovely, teaching me Swedish terms for archaeological tools, and holding a Midsummer festival on the 21st of June. They made wildflower-crowns, played some Swedish folk music, and wore white/floral gowns for the occasion, which we celebrated in the town-square of Farnese. This made a distinct impression on the local Italian townspeople, who particularly admired the wildflower-crowns.

From Vulci, I travelled through Italy and Corfu to Albania. We were met by some staff members in the busy resort town of Sarandë, and then drove to Livadhja, where we stayed for the duration of the dig. Livadhja lies along the main road to the Greek border, and most of the contributing villages are Greek speaking, despite being in Southern Albania. The town is about a ten-minute drive away from the archaeological site of Dobra. The fieldwork at Dobra went for three weeks. We met to go to site at 6 am in the morning, worked until a half-hour snack break at 10:30, and continued until lunchtime at 2 pm. Lunch and dinner was held at a local taberna in Livadhja, which served a variety of local meals, the highlights being moussaka, local feta, and burek. The burek proved particularly popular, with dig members buying some most days from the village store.

A piece of gold leaf recovered – part of an oak-leaf diadem - Photo: ©Lars Hofflin

In the afternoon/evening, we would process and clean the finds from the day. Once more, I was involved in all parts of the archaeological process, from the initial clearing of vegetation and topsoil to the excavating of stratigraphical layers; from the sketching, surveying and recording of the excavations to the washing, databasing, cataloguing, photographing of small finds; as well as the eventual backfilling and inventorying of finds and tools at the end of the season. Despite the extreme heat, it was another fantastic season at Dobra. We completed the examination and excavation of the structure that was the primary focus of the excavations, and found many wonderful small finds, not limited to: multiple burials of human remains (with different burial customs and orientation), a loom-weight, a complete Hellenistic oil lamp, some bronze, iron and even gold artefacts, as well as some relief-decorated limestone funerary urns and marble column fragments. 

All photos: ©Lars Hofflin 2024