A Hellenistic Period Sanctuary at Vau i Dejës, Northern Albania – a ‘Road Sanctuary’ between the Adriatic and the Central Balkans?

该项目的重点是2015年才发现的位于Vau i DejëS(阿尔巴尼亚北部)的一个希腊化避难所。这个小村庄位于Zadrima平原的东北部，Zadrima平原延伸到Shkodra和Lezha的现代城市之间，以前是Skodra和Lissos的古代城邦。到目前为止，该遗址只因发现了一只与东方神萨巴齐奥斯有关的虔诚的青铜手而闻名。奥地利考古学家Camillo Praschniker和Arnold Schober在第一次世界大战期间访问了阿尔巴尼亚北部和黑山，使Vau I DejëS成为他们从Shkodra到维格晚期罗马堡垒的重要站点。这条巨大的德林河只能在德耶河的S附近渡过，它从那里流出山脉。在古代，一条穿过德林山谷通往巴尔干中部的道路。这一地点位于村庄东部出口的一座小山上，岩石表面崎岖，因此不适合定居。简单的检查发现了数量惊人的陶瓷碎片和硬币，主要是沿着最近一个建筑工地造成破坏的南坡。这些非常丰富和有启发性的发现主要包括精致的希腊陶瓷的碎片，此外还有大约12个来自女神的陶俑碎片，以及10个希腊硬币。此外，还有一些容器碎片和两枚罗马晚期的硬币。没有一件物品可以归因于罗马时期(公元1-3世纪)。考古证据表明，瓦乌伊德耶伊S的保护区在所谓的伊利里亚-帕尼奥族起义(公元6-9年)期间被遗弃。因此，最近在瓦乌伊德耶伊S发现的遗址是在阿尔巴尼亚迪拉基翁/杜勒斯以北的领土上唯一得到考古证明的希腊化-罗马时代的保护区。瓦乌伊德耶伊S保护区的目的是在抢救性挖掘中记录考古证据。它的目的一方面是为了记录遗址的解释和年代分类所需的仍然存在的证据，另一方面是为了了解希腊化的祈祷祭品的考古学背景以及与古代晚期发现有关的考古学背景。通过对材料的分析，希望能够全面地洞察保护区的年代学，并确认假定的晚期古代的再利用。该遗址的特殊考古意义有待进一步分析，因为它最有可能是今天保存在地拉那的阿尔巴尼亚国家博物馆的萨巴齐奥斯的虔诚之手的起源，它来自于今天保存在地拉那的阿尔巴尼亚国家博物馆。由此产生的问题是，这个地方是否曾经是亚得里亚海海岸和巴尔干中部之间的路边避难所，游客可以在那里赠送“异国情调”的祈祷祭品等。

The project focusses on a Hellenistic sanctuary at Vau i Dejës (Northern Albania) which was discovered in only 2015. The small village is located in the northeast of the Zadrima plain which extends between the modern cities of Shkodra and Lezha, formerly the ancient poleis of Skodra and Lissos. To date, the site has been known only for the discovery of a votive bronze hand associated with the oriental god Sabazios. The Austrian archaeologists Camillo Praschniker and Arnold Schober who, visiting Northern Albania and Montenegro during WWI, qualified Vau i Dejës as an important station on their trip from Shkodra to the late Roman fort at Vig. The substantial Drin river could be crossed only near Vau i Dejës, where it leaves the mountains. In antiquity a road already led through the Drin valley towards the Central Balkans.The site which is located on a hill at the eastern exit of the village is marked by a rugged rock surface and was hence unsuitable for settlement purposes. Brief inspections led to the discovery of a surprisingly large amount of ceramic fragments and coins, mainly along the southern slope above the disruptions brought about by a recent construction site. The remarkably rich and instructive finds consist chiefly of sherds from fine Hellenistic ceramics and further of about a dozen of terracotta fragments from a female deity as well as ten Hellenistic coins. In addition, there were some vessel fragments and two coins from the late Roman period. Not one single object could be attributed to the Roman Period (1st-3rd centuries AD). The archaeological evidence suggests that the sanctuary at Vau i Dejës was abandoned during the so-called Illyrian-Pannonian revolt (6-9 AD).The recently discovered site at Vau i Dejës is consequently the only sanctuary from the Hellenistic-Roman era to be archaeologically attested on Albania’s territory north of Dyrrachion/Durres.The purpose of the project at Vau i Dejës is to document the archaeological evidence in a rescue excavation. Its aim is on the one hand to record the still remaining evidence needed for the site’s interpretation and chronological classification and on the other, to comprehend the archaeological contexts of the Hellenistic votive offerings and those pertaining to the finds from late antiquity.By analysing the material it is hoped that comprehensive insight into the sanctuary’s chronology is gained and that an assumed reuse in late antiquity is confirmed. The site’s particular archaeological relevance is further to be put into perspective as the most likely origin of the votive hand of Sabazios from ‘Vau i Dejës’, today kept in Albania’s National Museum in Tirana. The question thus arises as to whether the site once represented a roadside sanctuary between the Adriatic Coast and the Central Balkans, where travellers were able to bestow, among others, ‘exotic’ votive offerings.