Documentare l'invisibile. Il progetto Çuka e Ajtoit: rilievo e documentazione di un sito d'altura

The site of Çuka e Ajtoit is located at the southern edge of present Albania, on the Greek border, and it has a rather long tradition od studies, that for different reasons are still today poorly published. The monumental fortifications of the Hellenistic city, built in polygonal and trapezoidal massive masonry, are by far the most impressive features of the site, and have attracted the attention of scholars. These pertectly fit the steep slopes of the isolated hill, a natural control point of the surrounding area, known in antiquity as Kestrine and located between ancient Chaonia and Thesprotia. Since 2021 a new joint archacological mission of Sapienza University of Rome and Albanian Institute for Archaeology has started new field activities that since their inception have contributed in shedding new light on the archaeology of the site. New technologies for the topographical survey and the documentation are being deployed to offer a diachronic view of the site and an integrated comprehension of both archive and newly acquired data. The methodologies and the first results of the fieldwork are the main focus of this paper.