{"id":408133,"date":"2025-09-08T15:42:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T15:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/408133\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T15:42:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T15:42:13","slug":"archaeologists-find-large-roman-burial-chamber-in-albania-from-fourth-century-ad-uk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/408133\/","title":{"rendered":"Archaeologists find large Roman burial chamber in Albania from fourth century AD | UK News"},"content":{"rendered":"

A large Roman burial chamber from the third to fourth century AD has been unearthed by archaeologists in Albania.<\/p>\n

The discovery is the first of its kind found in the Balkan country that was once part of the Roman Empire.<\/p>\n

Locals had tipped off staff from the Institute of Archaeology after noticing some unusual stones on a plateau near the border with North Macedonia.<\/p>\n

They began excavating in early August and found the underground structure. Its large limestone slabs were inscribed with Greek lettering.<\/p>\n

Erikson Nikolli, the project’s lead archaeologist, said: “The inscription tells us that the person buried here was named Gelliano, a name typical of the Roman period.<\/p>\n

\"Tourists<\/p>\n

Image:
\n Tourists have flocked to the site after hearing news of the discovery<\/p>\n

“We are uncertain about the identity of the second individual, but it is likely a family member.”<\/p>\n

The tomb measures 9m (29ft) by 6m (19ft).<\/p>\n

It is believed to be a wealthy person’s resting place and is grander than other burial sites found in the area.<\/p>\n

Authorities in Albania are already planning to develop the site into a tourist attraction.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr Nikolli’s team last week used brushes to reveal the intricately carved edges of the tomb’s white roof stone and walls.<\/p>\n

He said: “We also uncovered a piece of fabric embroidered with gold thread, which confirms our belief that we are dealing with a member of the upper class.”<\/p>\n

The team also found glass plates and knives.<\/p>\n

\"Albania<\/p>\n

Image:
\n Albania is already planning to turn the site into a tourist destination<\/p>\n

Nikolli said the tomb had been looted at least twice, once in antiquity and later with heavy machinery to move a huge rock on top of the chamber.<\/p>\n

He added the occupant’s name was inscribed in Greek letters but carried a Latin meaning, and a second inscription shows the tomb was dedicated to the god Jupiter.<\/p>\n

Experts have not yet speculated on inscriptions on stones found nearby, which are believed to have belonged to another monument now surrounded by cornfields and a quarry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A large Roman burial chamber from the third to fourth century AD has been unearthed by archaeologists in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[12,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-408133","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}