ΚΕΣΤΡΙΑ ΤHΣ ΧΑΟΝIΑΣ: APPUNTI SULLA GEOGRAFIA E SULLA STORIA DI UNA REGIONE DI FRONTIERA

Abstract

ΚΕΣΤΡΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΧΑΟΝIΑΣ: Some Considerations on the Geography and on the History
of a Frontier Region.
This paper has been conceived in the context of the activities of the Joint Archaeological
Mission of Sapienza University of Rome and the Albanian Institute of Archaeology in
Çuka e Ajoit (Albania), and is aimed at providing a general overview and assessment on
the historical geography of the Cestrine region, where Çuka e Ajtoit is located. The analysis
of the written sources underlines the importance of the connection to the Trojan
myth, that have determined in more than one case the toponymy of the area. This context
is strictly related to the genealogical constructions that Chaonian, Thesprotian and
Molossian élites have adopted since at least the 5th Cent. BCE. Possible connections to
the Anatolian area have been hypothesized, yet archaeology still lacks to provide any
support to them.
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