Butrint from the air: an aerial perspective of a Classical and late antique Mediterranean city

Joint excavations between the British Butrint Foundation and the Albanian Institute of Archaeology are revealing the complex history of the ancient Adriatic port of Butrint. With funding from the Packard Humanities Institute, a well-preserved archaeological sequence, and a team of internationally recognised specialists, Butrint is becoming a benchmark for Roman and medieval studies in the eastern Mediterranean. As an extra boon, during July this year, the archaeologists were able to view the city, its suburbs and current excavations in a new, exciting and dramatic way: via a two-pronged survey from the air. Though aerial photography is a long-established element of the modern archaeological discipline, the material and financial means to carry out such surveys in Albania have hitherto been unattainable. Until, that is, the Butrint Foundation devised a pragmatic and innovative solution to offset these difficulties. Here, Andy Crowson Project Manager for the Institute of World Archaeology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, and the Butrint Foundation excavations in Butrint, takes us on a flight through time.

Magnificent men and their flying machines: Massimo Zanfini and Alket Islami

Phase one of the aerial survey saw the recruitment of Massimo Zanfini, an Italian archaeologist from the University of Bologna in Ravenna, and his aquilone, or kite. Aside from building a composite photographic plan of a large early Christian mosaic, Massimo’s mission was to obtain detailed aerial views of some of the monuments in and around the Butrint National Park. With a camera suspended in a cradle delicately stitched in to the kite fabric by his grandmother, Massimo skilfully piloted the kite above his targets while an assistant took the photographs with a radio-control unit.

The second aspect to the survey drew upon the considerable airmanship of Alket Islami, President of the National Aero Club of Albania. Alket’s services were only secured on the penultimate day of the excavation, and driving the 300 difficult kilometres overnight from Tirana, he arrived with his paramotor, a contraption that is part parachute, part jet-pack and part lawnmower. Taking off from the flat, alluvial Vrina Plain to the south of Butrint, Alket ascended to fly over the current excavations outside the walled city and to record some of the more established monuments within the city as they have never been seen before.