The world's first Illyrian trading post found
- On 08/12/2008
- In Underwater Archeology
By Yngve Vogt
There is jubilation at the Museum of Cultural History at the University of Oslo in Norway. Marina Prusac, Associate Professor in the department of archaeology, has just returned home after conducting excavations in the border area between Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
In the course of several weeks of intense digging this autumn, her archaeological team found the very first traces of an Illyrian trading post that is more han two thousand years old.
The Illyrians were an ancient people who lived by hunting, fishing and agriculture. They were known as warriors and pirates.
Not only did they fight Greek colonists and Roman occupants, the various tribes also feuded among themselves.
However, the archaeological finds show that the Illyrians also had peaceful trade connections with the Romans.
“The find is unique in a European perspective.
We have concluded that Desilo, was the place is called, was an important trading post of great significance for contact between the Illyrians and the Romans,” Marina Prusac tells the research magazine Apollon.