2025

 The 2025 Butrint Project campaign took place between 08 September and 04 October 2025, as per agreements with the Albanian colleagues of the Institute of Archaeology of Tirana and the Butrint National Park.

Fieldworks focused primarily on the inventory, drawing, and study of materials found during previous excavation campaigns. Particular attention was given to the findings from the 2021 and 2024 excavations by cleaning, cataloguing, and inventorying all those  that had not yet been processed. The overall work represents an essential step toward the comprehensive study and publication of the excavations, ensuring that each category of material is properly recorded and made available for further research.

 The underwater and maritime archaeology project in the Butrint lagoon continued combining land and underwater surveys in the Bay of Alinura, the Vivari Channel, and Lake Butrint. Land surveys focused on the coastal areas of the bay and the northern bank of the channel, while snorkeling and diving operations aimed to assess the conformation of the seabed and the visibility of archaeological features. Additional dives in the Vivari Channel verified the preservation of the previously identified bridge structures and recorded concentrations of ceramic material near the Butrint shore.

Lastly, the 2025 campaign included a series of interviews with local fishermen, in particular with the last remaining shipwright in the area who is responsible for constructing the traditional wooden boats (sanal) visible along the shores of Saranda, Ksamil, and Lake Butrint. A new photogrammetric survey was carried out on one boat near the Butrint site, using a combination of drone and ground photography, followed by a laser scanning survey. Using both methods allowed for complementary post-processing results and provided students with hands-on training in documenting unusually sized objects like traditional boats.

The project also focused on public engagement, holding an update meeting with the authorized guides of the Butrint archaeological site to present key results from ten years of excavation.

Fieldwork activities were also made possible thanks to the support and participation to the PRIN 2022 FortNet Project.

Team: Enrico Giorgi, Belisa Muka, Federica Carbotti,  Veronica Castignani, Francesca D'Ambola, Giacomo Sigismondo, Giorgia Angelica Chatzidakis, Ana Paci, Gregorio Zanin, Matteo Raggi, Rebecca Pietralunga, Silvia Valentini, Stefano Medas, Alessandro Zoppini, Martina Succi.