Le necropoli ellenistiche e romane di Butrinto: nuove considerazioni sui materiali e sul cosiddetto Colombarium rinvenuti da Luigi Maria Ugolini negli anni Venti del Novecento

Since the first italian archaeological mission in Butrint during the twenties, two main cemeterial areas where identified: the first along the isthmus between Butrint’s lake and Vivari’s channel – beyond city’s western fortifications – and the second in the Vrina’s plane. Next archaeological missions (Italian mission in the thirties, Albanian excavations after the WWII and English mission from the early 90s’) then focused on these areas, giving a comprehensive idea of the topographic organization of these cemeteries. The aim of this paper is to add new data on the knowledge of the necropolis of Butrint focusing on two main topics. The first part will focus on materials found inside the tombs of the western necropolis by the first Italian archaeological mission led by Luigi Maria Ugolini. Following Ugolini’s publication the findings will be presented, suggesting a revised chronology and putting them in the context of the recent death’s archaeology research trend in Epirus. The second one, instead, will focus on the so called “Columbarium” found by Luigi Maria Ugolini outside the Lion Gate, presenting the result of a new laser scanner survey carried out as part of the recent research project of the University of Bologna and the Albanian Institute of Archaeology.