Recherche sur la localisation de Damastion et ses mines

The position of Damastion, a city founded around 420 B.C. by Aeginetans and Mendeans somewhere in Illyria, has still not been established with certainty. Strabo mentioned that its silver mines were famous in Antiquity (VII, 7, 8 and VIII, 6, 16), and its large silver coins may be found in central and western regions of the Balkans. Attempting to delineate the area in which the city and its mines may have been located, this paper examines topography of the finds of Damastian coins and compares it with the position of silver mines of the Balkan interior. И is possible to demonstrate that the coins of Damastion are most frequently found in the area of the rich silver mines of Kosovo, and hence to conclude that this city should be sought somewhere in that region.