부산대학교 도서관

This article aims to present the official approach of the Ottoman state regarding the archaeological objects found in the excavations that took place in several areas of the empire during the second half of the nineteenth century. The new records found in the Turkish archives regarding the topic provide to us a different view regarding the rescue and the preservation of the archaeological finds by the Ottoman state. The traditional Albanian bibliographical data on the related topic records only two examples of archaeological artifacts discovered in this area that were transported and deposited in the Imperial Museum in Istanbul. This article enriches the list of the objects found in Albania and preserved in the imperial capital but also provides a concrete understanding on how the state officials operated in such cases. The article provides new and important information from an administrative perspective on the history of the Albanian archaeology as well as a case study that could further assist similar studies for other parts of the Ottoman Empire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]