The excavations on the early Christian basilica at the Vrina Plane, located in the south of the ancient city of Butrint continued even during the 2006 archaeological season. The intention of the work was to uncover the stratigraphy related to this monument, as well as on the discovery of other later dating structures.
Excavations carried out on the eastern nave revealed a hearth and a big clay kiln, which demonstrates that after the abandonment of the church the area as been used as a working atelier. A further kiln was examined in the apse of the Roman apsidal building; this may have been intended to mould a bell.
The importance of the building, which rose up above the ruins of the early Christian Basilica and the Roman town house, is indicated by 50 Byzantine coins of the late 9th- early 10th-century found across the site and by four rare lead seals. These finds suggest that the site may have become a centre of regional administration, with a local official living and working in the building and using the church nave and bema as his private chapel. A stone-lined tomb which cut through the nave mosaic contained a young adult male interred with an ornate copper belt; he may have been a member of the owner’s family.
A small cemetery, possibly for the community under the official’s jurisdiction, was discovered with a number of graves clustered in the area of the in-filled Roman pools. One individual, a young female, had been interred with bronze earrings in her ears and two silver earrings tied by cord around her neck.
The seat of control seems to have been maintained here up to the mid 10th century after which time the buildings were abandoned. The memory of sanctity seems to have endured, however, as a number of later burials were found cut through abandonment deposits in the western aisle.