From the Scotsman, February 2 2009

By LLAZAR SEMINI
THE Ionian Sea is slowly offering up lost shipwrecks and treasures that date back 2,500 years.
In the first archaeological survey of Albania's seabed, a research ship has combed the waters off the southern shores using scanning equipment and robots to seek ancient wrecks. At least five sites were located.

The project would not have been unimaginable just 18 years ago, when the Balkan country was ruled by communists who banned contact with the outside world.

"Albania is a tremendous untapped (archaeological] resource," said Jeffrey Royal, a US archaeologist from the Florida-based RPM Nautical Foundation, which is leading the survey. "With what we've discovered until now we may say that Albania is on a par with Italy and Greece."

The latest expedition has revealed traces of four sunken Greek ships dating from the sixth to the third century BC, while another three suspected sites have still to be verified.

In comparison, the 2007 season netted signs of just one wreck.

"The discoveries are very important because of the lack of properly documented objects from that period," said Andrej Gaspari, a leading Slovenian underwater archaeologist "The only ships found and documented from that time belong to the western Mediterranean and Israel, so our knowledge on the technology for construction of ships is more or less limited."

Albania stood on an important trade route, receiving traffic from Greece, Italy, north Africa and the western Mediterranean.

Other finds include roof tiles, a ship's anchor and jars used to transport wine and olive oil. The team also located more than 20 unknown 20th-century shipwrecks.