The Albanian Institute of Archaeology

Following the Second World War the new communist government of Albania rebuilt the country’s social and cultural structure, and a Centre for Archaeology was established in 1948 within the newly-formed Academy of Sciences in Tirana. This led to the training of a whole new generation of archaeologists, and a mapping of the archaeological history of the country. Enver Hoxha, the leader of the regime, was keen to harness cultural identity to the nationalist policies of the government, and Butrint was presented as the link between Albanians of history and the prehistoric Illyrians.

In 1990, with the beginning of the democratic movement in Albania, the Institute of Archaeology was formed and immediately initiated as series of collaborative projects at Butrint with foreign organizations. The first of these was with Katerina Hadzis of Athens Technical University on the acropolis where, with Neritan Ceka, she explored the origins of the city. In 1994 a collaborative project was designed with the Butrint Foundation.