Three new sites — Kallmet, Ungrej and Vrith — have been surveyed and documented by the joint Albanian-Polish archaeological project in the hinterland of Scodra and Lissos. They resemble already known fortified places in the territory of the Labeates. At Kallmet, a long rubble wall has been traced, at Vrith it is a series of dry masonry walls, and at Ungrej a line of defense walls. This last site can be identified as a Hellenistic fortress, probably guarding the hinterland of Lissos, whereas Vrith may have been a pastoral site; Kallmet is difficult to interpret for lack of additional evidence. An overview of the new data permits a revisiting of several issues concerning the territorial extent of Lissos itself and the chief groups of Illyrians, the Labeates included, populating the hinterland of this city in the Hellenistic period. First and foremost, a contextualizing of the archaeological data coming from a larger territory, that is, extending to the Black Drin valley, contrasts the Lissos hinterland with its mosaic of small communities living in not necessarily fortified settlements of limited size, with a densely urbanized coastal area. Second, a closer look at the terminology used by ancient authors with regard to Illyrian sites — mainly urb, oppidum and castellum — reveals an unfamiliarity with the urban realities of Illyria, this because archaeological facts often fail to bear out the terminology. Last but not least, there is the issue of the location and extent of the tribal territories of the Pirustae and Cavii, both with documented ties to Lissos. All in all, marshalling the archaeological data alongside information to be gleaned from historical accounts has brought new insights into the geographical history of the area, as well as the political and territorial organization of the Illyrians in this region.
Saimir Shpuza (Mon,) studied this question.