Sweet Briar students uncover new evidence at Albanian dig site

Sweet Briar College students and recent graduates spent three weeks excavating a fortress site in Albania and documented new evidence of Late Antique and medieval settlement. The work adds to a longer-running project at Matohasanaj and helps researchers reconstruct how people lived and built in the region after the Roman conquest.

Why it matters: - The excavation adds new evidence about settlement continuity at fortified hill sites in Albania after the Roman conquest. - The findings help fill gaps in the historical record for Late Antique and medieval occupation in a region where those periods are not well documented. - The archive of building materials may help researchers reconstruct construction methods and local craft production in the fortress area.

What happened: - Sweet Briar College sent students and recent graduates to Albania for the third summer of the Matohasanaj Archaeological Project. - Assistant Professor and Program Co-Director Dr. Erin Pitt led Arin Armistead ’25, Sarit Goldstein-Mendoza ’26, Amethyst Higginbotham-Mack ’29 and Nathalie Schelin ’26 during the three-week excavation. - The team worked with Program Co-Director Dr. Sabina Veseli, Project Coordinator and Field Director Mirgen Shametaj, Field Supervisor Dr. Emily Glass and project support from Liri Shametaj. - The Sweet Briar team excavated the site exclusively. - The project site includes a monumental Hellenistic-period building dated to 323–31 BCE and other structures identified in prior years as part of a fortress.

The details: - This summer’s work focused on the Late Antique and medieval phases of the site. - Dr. Pitt said these periods are not well recorded in this part of Albania, aside from large settlements in the Vjosa River valley, Byzantine churches and bishoprics. - The 2025 cohort identified a Late Antique house from its architectural layout and ceramic evidence. - The 2026 group excavated a small area of the house and exposed the preserved collapse of the roof and interior walls in several rooms. - The team documented the roof tiles and building materials through photography, illustration and numerical cataloging. - The archive now includes the kinds, sizes and characteristics of the building materials used in the Late Antique period at the fortress. - The material record will help researchers reconstruct how the roof was built. - The record also supports research into craft producers, materials and building practices in the region. - The team identified the extension of one original wall of the Hellenistic monument to the west. - That wall was reused in the Late Antique house, which supports the belief that additional Hellenistic monuments existed in that part of the fortress. - The excavation also identified a medieval building with a furnace or oven, a narrow alleyway between later structures and sections of late walls that may represent other structures.

Between the lines: - The project is building a multi-year sequence of evidence rather than producing a single isolated find. - Reused walls and overlapping building phases suggest the site changed function over time while remaining occupied. - Pitt said the excavations show continuity of settlement at fortified hill sites after the Roman conquest and changes in settlement patterns as Roman control expanded and later collapsed.

What's next: - The excavation team will use this season’s documentation to refine the site’s building history and chronology. - Future work can expand the record of Late Antique and medieval occupation and clarify how the fortress developed across successive periods. - Sweet Briar College is directing prospective students and families to admissions information, campus visits and academic program details at Learn more, schedule a visit, or apply.

The bottom line: - Sweet Briar students did not just observe an excavation this summer. They helped document new evidence that could reshape how archaeologists understand settlement and rebuilding in this part of Albania.