Paestum hosts the award for 2025's archaeological discoveries: a Roman mausoleum and a sunken port in the running

On October 30, during the 28th edition of the Mediterranean Exchange of Archaeological Tourism in Paestum, the International Archaeological Discovery Award Palmyra will be presented — the prize that BMTA and the magazine Archeo have awarded since 2015 to the archaeological discoveries considered most significant of the previous year.

Among the five candidates selected for the 2025 edition are two finds that illustrate the geographical breadth of archaeological work in the Mediterranean and beyond: the Roman hypogeum-mausoleum identified in the Bulqize Valley, in Albania, and the sunken port of Taposiris Magna, on the Egyptian coast. The first brings to light a Roman-era funerary structure in an area of the Balkan hinterland still little explored archaeologically; the second concerns the submerged port installations linked to the site of Taposiris Magna, already known for the temple dedicated to Osiris and for research carried out in recent decades on its necropolis and coastal structures.

The Palmyra Award was created with a specific purpose: to give international visibility to discoveries that would otherwise risk remaining confined to specialist literature, selecting each year a shortlist of candidates from different contexts and continents. The Paestum ceremony, which has accompanied the award at the Mediterranean Exchange of Archaeological Tourism for years, also serves as an occasion to promote cultural tourism linked to the sites involved.

It should be noted that, at present, the news comes from a single source — Artribune, which reproduces a statement by BMTA and Archeo — and no independent confirmation of the details of the five candidacies is currently available. This is nonetheless information coming directly from the award’s organizers, and thus traceable to an institutional body within the sector, even if not verified by third parties.

It remains to be seen which of the five discoveries will receive the recognition on October 30, but the composition of the shortlist alone says something about the state of the discipline: a Roman mausoleum in a Balkan area rarely at the center of international attention and a sunken Egyptian port confirm that the year’s most discussed discoveries are no longer concentrated solely in the traditional archaeological hubs of the Mediterranean, but are also emerging from contexts peripheral to the major excavation circuits. The Paestum ceremony will be the occasion to verify which of these finds the jury deemed prevailing, and for what specific reasons — information that, given the material currently available, has not yet been made public.