The Patos Tumulus is located in the village of Rrerës, in the town of Patos.
The oldest traces of human activity are found in the Patos Mound. It was discovered in 1976 on the left side of the Fier-Ballsh highway, along the middle valley of the Gjanica River. Built with layers of soil, such as humus, clay, pumice and sand, 76 graves were found in this mound, 62 of which belonged to the Late Bronze and Early Iron periods and 14 others belonging to the Early Middle Ages. This mound was used for burials during a period that included the end of the Bronze Age and the first phase of the Iron Age (7th century BC). 76 graves have been discovered, of which
62 belong to the late Bronze and early Iron periods, while 14 belong to the first centuries BC and the early Middle Ages.
In this tomb-hill, two burial rites were used, with body placement and cremation, while from a construction point of view the tombs are of several types such as: those with a simple pit, with mud and clay and built with stones. In them, archaeologists found a series of ceramic objects (vessels of various types and tiles), needles, flasks, tubes, plates, fibulae, bracelets, spirals, tweezers, daggers, bronze knives or diadems, iron needles and axes, amber beads, belonging to the culture of the Illyrian tribe of Bylins.
The Patos Mound proves that the territory around Apollonia was inhabited and experienced a high level of development before the arrival of settlers in this city, evidence of an ancient civilization.
