Monumental tomb in Bulqiza/Shkreli: It was robbed with heavy equipment before archaeologists discovered it
2025-09-09 19:48:00, KulturëCNA
Photo taken by the Institute of Archaeology
Architect Artan Shkreli, in a post on social networks, has made an analysis of the archaeological discovery of a monumental tomb from the Roman period, the first of its kind in Albania.
The discovery was made in the village of Strikcan in Bulqiza during archaeological works carried out as part of the scientific research project "Archaeological Research in the Bulqiza Valley", directed by Acad. Adem Bunguri and Msc. Erikson Nikolli.
Photo taken by the Institute of Archaeology
Shkreli states that the monumental tomb was discovered after clandestine diggers raided the territory with heavy equipment, which they used to move the stones so that they could then be brought inside. Another issue that architect Shkreli raises is the lack of inventory of the artifacts that were inside this monumental tomb of the Illyrian-Roman period, after treasure hunters carried out an illegal cleaning in front of archaeologists.
"After every official discovery in archaeology, the question arises as to whether the site is untouched or previously looted... This was also raised in the discovery of Strikcani, Bulqize: if the tomb was violated, then looted? And by whom, and when?
Meanwhile, we know from practice that as soon as archaeologists discover something, treasure hunters are immediately potential targets for criminal excavations (it happened before with the tomb of Jorgucat in Gjirokastra).
Thus, in conditions of weak control of the territory, the archaeologists' dilemma of whether to dig leisurely (season after season) or to speed up excavations beyond standards and protocols is great.
What we currently know, in the case of the Strikcan funerary monument, is that the “discovery”, as important as it appears, was made only after the tomb had been previously raided by clandestine diggers; who, it turns out, used heavy equipment to move the massive stone slabs to get inside. No one knows today what inventory of artifacts from Illyrian-Roman antiquity was looted from that magnificent tomb…
Admittedly, the phenomenon is not only Albanian, although the dimensions of antiquities looting in our country have never been statistically measured, but the fact that we almost never have spectacular finds leads to the idea that archaeological sites are illegally "cleaned" before the archaeologist's pickaxe falls on them.
Elsewhere, figures like Georgi Kitov, one of the most controversial figures in Bulgarian archaeology today, who was called half-hero and half-criminal by National Geographic magazine, have certainly emerged from the turmoil. The reason for this was his method of rapidly excavating ancient Thracian mounds using machinery.
The truth is that for decades, while trying to enter the still-unlooted tombs of the Thracian kings, Kitov (in the service of the state) has been competing with the mafia of treasure hunters, who have the most modern equipment at their disposal. And he has often succeeded, making sensational discoveries. However, in 2001, the Bulgarian authorities revoked his excavation permit for a year on suspicion that he had excavated without the appropriate protocols.
(Kitov – a hero to me – died of a heart attack while excavating a temple in central Bulgaria, a temple considered one of his greatest discoveries).
To return to us, it seems that what will remain in Bulqiza will be a magnificent but empty funerary monument; spectacular in image, but without words, without a personalized story to tell.
Perhaps an Albanian Kitov, not very orthodox, but well-financed, who would have used the same heavy equipment (which it turns out the "tombaiols" of Strikcani used), with the corresponding side effects, could have laid the foundations, through a priceless inventory, for a unique museum, Shkreli writes in his analysis./ CNA
Lajme ekskluzive nga CNA
Doni te informoheni te paret per lajme ekskluzive? Bashkohuni me grupin tone ne Facebook duke klikuar ketu.
