The burial tumulus of Lofkend dominates a hilly and riverine landscape. Despite its relatively small size (20.54 x 10.54m), and its elevation only some 318m above sea level, the Lofkend tumulus is visible from substantial distances. The material from the Early Iron Age graves thus far excavated can be dated from the 11th/10th through the later 7th or 6th centuries B.C.
The site is close to the main north-south highway of Albania, which ultimately leads south to the Greek border and north to the capital of Tirana, and in the middle of Albania's oil fields at Ballsh, ah area vulnerable to serious environmental degradation. The tumulus lies in the Mallakaster hills, which rise to the south-east of the modern regional centre of Fier, not far from the village of Lofkend. Excavations were conducted at the mound from 2004 to 2007 as a collaboration of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Institute of Archaeology, Academy of Sciences, Tirana, with the International Center for Albanian Archaeology.
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