Documenting a hilltop settlement: methodologies and preliminary results of the joint Albano-Italian project at Çuka e Ajtoit (Albania)

The archaeological site of Çuka e Ajtoit (lit. “mount of the eagle”) is located at the southern fringe of the Albanian territory, a few kilometres from the Greek border, on the top of a conical hill with very steep slopes. Its sharp profile dominates the lowland area extending from Butrint in the north, a World Heritage site by UNESCO, to the valley of Kalamas, ancient Thyamis in the south. The area, known as Cestrine or Cammania during Antiquity was located in a highly significant geographical position, along the channel of Corfu, opposite to the city of Corcyra, along the maritime route connecting Balkan Greece to Sicily and Magna Graecia.