LIMSpec Wiki

42°07′22″N 19°34′30″E / 42.1229°N 19.5749°E / 42.1229; 19.5749

Kratul was an Illyrian settlement and fortification located in the territories of the Illyrian tribe of Labeates. The archaeological material indicates that life at the settlement was active from the early Iron Age (beginning of 1st millennium B.C.) until the 1st century A.D.^[1]

Kratul fortification represents a good example that sheds light to the typology of military architecture among Illyrians^[2]. The fortification wall encloses an elliptical shape area (which is uncommon among other fortifications but adopts well to the terrain), which covers about 0.5 ha. The wall was built using large blocks on both curtains, while the core is filled with smaller stones. The blocks are unworked and no mortar has been used. The walls' width goes up to 3.35 m while the height is 2.55 m. Three gates which served for communication have been identified. Two of them are across each other respectively on the north and south side, while the third one is on the east side. From a typological point of view the Kratul fortification is similar to that of Gajtan, although there are substantial changes in plan such as towers and the regular elliptic shape, which make it an interesting site. So far, there have been no trace of houses found inside the settlement^[3][4].

The Kratul fortification ruins are situated on the hill with the same name, at an altitude of 143 m above sea level. They lie over the nowadays village of Boks, part of the municipality of Postribë in Shkodër District. On the plain south of the village's outskirts, near the left banks of Kir river, are located 160 tumuli of Shtoj, which date back to the early Bronze Age^[5]. Kratul itself is 8 km to the northeast of Shkodra city center and only 600 m north of Mes Bridge, a cultural monument.

• List of ancient cities in Illyria