Pottery at Montenegro’s Vidov Vrh May Hint at an Illyrian Hilltop Sanctuary

Archaeologists digging on a hilltop above the Bay of Kotor region in Montenegro have recovered Iron Age pottery and possible structural remains at an Illyrian settlement called Vidov Vrh. The finds do not prove a sanctuary stood there. They do add weight to an older idea that this hill, roughly 2,300 years ago, may have been more than a place to live.

A hillfort above Herceg Novi

Vidov Vrh rises about 781 meters above sea level near Herceg Novi. It overlooks the Bay of Topalj and the Sutorina Plain. Archaeologists classify it as a gradina, the Balkan term for a hillfort settlement. Earlier research dates its occupation to the 4th to 1st centuries BCE, and the site shows features linked to the Glasinac culture of the Western Balkans.

According to the Arkeonews report, the terrain suggests the settlers chose the spot as much for controlling the surrounding landscape and for daily life as for defense. A medieval church, the Lazarica, now stands on the summit, and that detail matters for the story.

What the October 2026 dig found

New excavations began in October 2026 under archaeologist Radmila Ćapin. The team includes Đorđe Ćapin and conservator-restorer Goran Skrobanović. They recovered Iron Age ceramics and what look like structural remains. The researchers also use LiDAR scanning and geodetic measurements to map the hill. Funding comes from Montenegro’s Ministry of Culture and Media and the Municipality of Herceg Novi.

The report does not give detailed counts or exact dates for the new pottery. The 2,300-year figure reflects the settlement’s broader date range rather than a specific dating of each sherd.

Why archaeologists suspect a sacred place

The sanctuary idea began with earlier work. In 2009, researchers excavated about 73 square meters around the Lazarica Church. They found foundations of a 15th-century church, walls from an 1889 restoration, and older Illyrian walls. The church’s north and south walls sit directly on top of those Illyrian walls. The same dig produced Hellenistic ceramics, a gold earring and a 9th-century bronze belt fragment.

The most telling objects were fragments of kantharoi, two-handled drinking vessels, with raised knobs. A 2015 study by Radmila and Đorđe Ćapin compared them with pottery from other sanctuaries. That comparison led to the suggestion that people may have held rituals on the hill.

A second clue is the name. Vidov Vrh may preserve the name of a local deity. Roman-era votive altars from Topusko in Croatia name the deities Vidasus and Thana, associated with Silvanus and Diana. Arkeonews calls this link a hypothesis rather than a verified fact, because no inscription naming Vid or Tana has turned up at Vidov Vrh.

The article also compares the hill with the Gradina hill near Risan, the acropolis of ancient Rizon, which had a sacred area linked to the protector god Medaurus. It notes that no direct connection between the two sites has been established.

Why it matters

Illyrian hillforts along the Adriatic coast are often described in military terms. A site that may have combined homes, ritual and landscape control would add nuance to that picture. A church built directly on older Illyrian walls also hints at a long habit of reusing sacred ground, although the evidence here is still thin.

What remains uncertain

No temple structure has been identified at Vidov Vrh. The kantharos fragments come from the 2009 work, not the new season. The deity link rests on a name similarity, and the comparison with Risan remains a comparison only. The new LiDAR and survey results may help show whether the structural remains form a coherent building. Until researchers publish those results and dated finds, the sanctuary remains a working hypothesis.

For now, the hill offers a reminder that a quiet summit with a small church can hide more than two millennia of human activity, and the team has only begun to read it.

Sources

• Glas Herceg Novog, report on the Vidov Vrh excavations led by Radmila Ćapin (cited by Arkeonews; not independently accessed)
• Arkeonews, New Finds at 2,300-Year-Old Illyrian Settlement in Montenegro Hint at Ancient Sanctuary (4 November 2026)