Archaeological investigations in a Northern Albanian province: results of the Projekti Arkeologjik i Shkodrës (PASH)

[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review]

This two-volume work represents a substantial contribution to archaeological research in northern Albania. For four summer field seasons, the research team conducted comprehensive, interdisciplinary archaeological investigations in the Shkodër region. The primary aim of this fieldwork was to collect material-cultural and chronological data crucial for an exploration of social inequality and its associated institutions in the region, establishing the temporal framework and causal mechanisms for its development and tracing its geographic origins. It is commendable for an archaeological publication based on large amount of fieldwork data to present a clear initial hypothesis and well-defined scientific questions and research objectives, a task which the book successfully accomplishes.

The book comprises 22 chapters distributed across the two volumes, each authored by one or more scholars. The chapter numbering is continuous, but the page numbers reset across the two volumes. Given the considerable length of both volumes, my review discusses mainly the chapters that are more focused on archaeological interpretation.

The introductory chapter (Chapter 1) delineates the objectives and scope of the PASH project. A GIS-based analysis (Chapter 6) contextualizes the findings within the theoretical and methodological framework established in Chapter 1, while Chapter 22 synthesizes the project’s aims and outcomes. Most chapters—particularly Chapters 5, 7, and 8—primarily focus on field investigations. Additionally, the volumes include discussions on the history of archaeological research, the modern historical context, and the ethnography of the study area (Chapters 3, 4, and 21). Categories of material culture from both survey and excavations, as well as archaeometric analyses, are presented and discussed in detail. Chapters 10 through 15 provide a diachronic perspective on ceramics derived from both surveys and excavations, integrating petrographic analyses, while lithic assemblages are comprehensively discussed in Chapters 9 and 16. Small finds are addressed in Chapter 17, while Chapters 18 and 19 present the results of archaeobotanical and faunal analyses. Furthermore, the geological framework (Chapter 2) is examined alongside strontium isotope and ancient DNA analyses, primarily conducted on human remains (Chapter 20), complementing the analytical data generated by the project. A significant volume of supplementary materials is provided for each chapter through various repositories, enhancing the scholarly value of this publication.

Chapter 1 presents the rationale for the PASH project and establishes the theoretical framework against which the project’s results are evaluated. The PASH project was explicitly designed to test the hypothesis, based on Kristiansen and Larsson (2005), that institutional change spreads along routes of interaction and cultural transmission. Evidence of social-institutional change and inequality along the Adriatic route, in places such as Albania, should appear later than in the Aegean, since these changes on a European scale were introduced from south to north during the Bronze Age (v. 1, p. 3). In the context of secondary contact and institutional change, PASH specifically aimed to identify the causes of social inequality, and to “define exactly when hillforts and tumuli were first built in the Shkodër region and whether they were introduced through migration, local adoption, or indigenous innovation, or a combination of all three” (v. 1, p. 5).

Chapter 3 provides an overview of the research carried out in the area covered by the PASH project to date. Notable among the key studies are the extensive archaeological surveys carried out in the 1980s and early 1990s by Bep Jubani and Zamir Tafilica in the Shkodër region, where they identified numerous sites spanning various periods that represent the foundation for several of the PASH project’s investigations. Key findings from their surveys include the multiperiod settlement of Zagorë (also referred to as “K. Qytetzë”; PASH Site 015) and the Shpella e Hudhrës site at Egsh (PASH Site 004), both of which were later incorporated into the PASH project. About forty tumuli near Dedaj in Shkrel were excavated and published by Jubani, while a large tumulus at Qafa e Shtinit was documented by Tafilica in 1988. Excavations at Zagorë began in 1987 under the direction of Zhaneta Andrea and were resumed by the PASH project in 2014. The chapter presents tables and figures providing a comprehensive and detailed overview of the chronology and types of archaeological sites based on both earlier and recent research. This wealth of visual data makes it a valuable resource for understanding these discoveries and the history of archaeological investigations.

Chapter 5 constitutes the core of volume 1, providing a detailed and systematic presentation of the results of PASH’s intensive archaeological survey. This extensive chapter, together with the ones focusing on ceramics (Chapters 10–15), is among the most significant contributions of the book, as it meticulously documents the activities of each survey team and their findings (Survey Team Reports) with a high degree of precision. The chapter also organizes the results by aggregating six geographic zones together (Zones 1–6) to facilitate interpretation and readability of large volume of information. The subsequent sections (Site Catalog and Systematic Surface Collections) present site-specific data, covering both newly identified sites from the PASH survey and those already documented in the literature. The figures in this chapter are of exceptional detail, serving as valuable visual support to the textual analysis. Another key contribution is PASH’s work at Gajtan, a site of interregional importance that, despite its significance, had remained under-researched until this publication. The PASH investigations have pushed back the foundation date of Gajtan to at least the Late Neolithic and have significantly refined the site’s chronological framework. The data suggest that Gajtan functioned as a major hillfort, occupied discontinuously for a period spanning at least 4000 years. The survey teams documented a total of 172 tumuli in the plains of Shtoj and Shkrel and identified five previously unknown sites: Kullaj (Site 002), Rasek (Site 005), Kodër Boks (Site 007), Omaraj (Site 009), and Fashina Hill (Site 013). Additionally, tumulus-related data (including maps, measurements, photographs, and descriptions) were entered into a separate database available to the reader and dedicated exclusively to tumuli. This chapter discusses the impact of internal versus external factors, favoring local developments described as “intra-Albanian factors” (vol. 1, p. 162). However, this perspective, visible here and in other parts of the book, may be overly influenced by present-day borders as a framework for research. Importantly, the settlement pattern data give us information that can be used to guide future excavations and address an array of new questions. In the section Results by Period, the PASH survey results are summarised and integrated with the regional data provided in Chapter 3.

In Chapter 6, the authors identify three types of evidence for conflict: fortifications, weapons, and human skeletons. The chapter then presents a detailed and multifaceted Geographic Information Systems analysis, based on these premises structured as a working hypothesis. It suggests that hilltop settlements served a defensive function while also benefiting from local resources and providing clear views of travel routes. In some cases, the view extended to tumuli, which must have been built and shared by different communities, as least-cost travel routes between settlements passed through tumulus fields, thus facilitating the interaction between social segments with shared funerary practices (v.1, p. 174). The archaeological and landscape records presented in this chapter lead the authors to argue that interaction, cooperation, and trust were present as early as the Bronze Age. The widespread presence of defensive structures at settlements and the increasing emphasis on intervisibility suggest a simultaneous need for vigilance and verification of trust among neighboring groups. Tumulus burials persisted from the Bronze to the Iron Age; however, interestingly, Iron Age mortuary practices are interpreted as reinforcing defensive stances rather than promoting social cohesion. The prevalence of weapons, particularly spears, in Iron Age tumuli suggests an escalation of conflict, alongside changes in warfare organization. Whereas in the Early Bronze Age, conflict was largely localized, involving competition within and between small kin-based groups led by influential individuals, by the Iron Age, warfare involved larger, cooperative male groups fighting external adversaries. Reviewing the evidence available for Shkodër, they conclude that evidence for conflict, including violent conflict, is absent in the Early and Middle Bronze Age. In my opinion, this is rather an argumentum ex silentio, as “conflict” is a rather broad category and does not necessarily leave traces in the archaeological record as clear as the ones belonging to Late Bronze and Iron Ages.

Chapter 7 presents the detailed technical results of test excavations conducted by PASH in 2014. These excavations sought to collect baseline data to address questions pertaining to local and regional economy and were conducted in continuity with old excavations. Archaeobotanical and archaeozoological data from these sites are presented in Chapters 18 and 19 and complement this information.

Chapter 8, on the tumuli, constitutes the final chapter of the first volume of the PASH project. The excavations at Shtoj primarily yielded modern structures, whereas those conducted at Shkrel yielded archaeologically significant findings. Analyses of human remains from tumulus 009 are presented in Chapter 20, together with discussion on the transformative impact of human mobility in the investigated region.

Chapters 10 to 13 are devoted to pottery classification and analysis, from both excavation and survey, with the ceramics divided into four broad chronological groups that help the reader stay oriented within this immense amount of data: prehistoric (Chapter 10) through archaic; classical; and Roman (Chapter 11); and Roman-medieval (Chapter 12) through early modern (Chapter 13). Chapters 14 and 15 offer a thorough overview of chemical and petrographic analyses. A great deal of effort has been made to bring together the information from heterogeneous collection methods in the field (field walking, site collection and excavation), types of assemblages and chronologies. As in other chapters of this book, there are a large number of distribution maps, drawings and pictures that support the text. The overall aim of the pottery analysis is to help answer some of the main research questions of the project, as outlined in Chapter 1. Chapter 21 offers interesting insights into the ethnography of the region under investigation.

In the conclusive Chapter 22, M. L. Galaty and L. Bejko summarize the results of the research program, with the goal of answering the research questions that drove the PASH project, namely assessing the factors that might have triggered changes in social complexity and inequality in the Shkodër region: 1) environmental change, 2) hillfort construction and settlement nucleation, 3) mound burial and status differentiation, 4) conflict, 5) changes in economy and subsistence, 6) specialized production and trade, and 7) interaction and migration. Social hierarchies are only recognizable starting from 800 BC, well prior to Greek colonization, in contrast to developments in northern Epirus, which appear to have been strongly conditioned by contact with Greeks. Galaty and Bejko conclude unequivocally on the basis of their analysis of the whole corpus of archaeological finds that there is no way that Bronze Age peoples living on the Eastern Adriatic coast could have transmitted institutions of warrior-kingship to Europe, as they did not exist in the region before 1200 BC, thus disproving the hypothesis presented by Kristiansen and Larsson of an “Adriatic route” for such innovations (v. 2, p. 444).

One limitation, recurring throughout various parts of the book, is the relatively narrow scope of the cited references, which in some cases do not fully encompass the breadth of both older and more recent scholarship on the subject. This issue is particularly notable in discussions of prehistory, the primary focus of the PASH project. In Chapter 8 for example, certain shortcomings in the reference list are unfortunately evident in the interpretation of the excavation results. The central stone cist uncovered within Tumulus 099 at Shkrel does not align with the characteristics of “typical Cetina-style tumuli.” The architectural variability of Cetina funerary structures is, in fact, considerable (Govedarica 1989; Forenbaher 2018a, 2018b, 2023), and this type of cist is frequently attested at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BCE—such as in Montenegrin tumuli containing Ljubljana-Adriatic ceramics—as well as in the subsequent Middle Bronze Age, when Dinara ceramic style becomes widespread. Moreover, recent excavations at Krivodol in Dalmatia, for example, conducted as part of the CeVaS project (PI: H. Tomas), have provided structural and chronological parallels for such burial features in the Middle Bronze Age (Tomas and Vuković 2023). The AMS dating of Tumulus 099 at Shkrel appears consistent with the results obtained by Tomas. Elsewhere, besides the key publications by Della Casa (1996) and Primas (1996) dealing with tumuli in Montenegro, the most significant omissions include the volumes by Maran (1988), Govedarica (1989), and, partially, Forenbaher (2018a; quoted, e.g., on p. 235 concerning the ¹⁴C dating of the Shkrel tumulus, but not in the chronological tables of the chapter). This is surprising given that Forenbaher has published the only available Bayesian model for Cetina and Adriatic-Ljubljana ceramic horizons, widely discussed in the volumes. A significant portion of the discussion on the Cetina phenomenon (Forenbaher 2018a, 2018b, 2023; Gori 2020) is absent, which contributes to the problematic dating of the Protocetina phase—an outdated horizon—to the first half of the 3rd millennium BCE, as well as the complete omission of the Adriatic-Ljubljana phase form the discussion. Furthermore, the Cetina phenomenon is linked to the European Bell Beakers (Heyd 2007) and to Central Mediterranean networks, involving not only the Aegean, but, most notably, Italy (Recchia 2020). The lack of these key works affects the interpretation of the 3rd millennium BC throughout the book, which is unfortunate given the overall outstanding quality of the volume.

In conclusion, the volumes of the PASH project have the great merit of having published in full and in great detail all the data produced during the survey and test excavation campaigns, as well as of structuring the data and the results according to well-defined research questions. This thread throughout the book helps the reading. At the same time, the book is structured so that each chapter can be read on its own. The large number and high quality of illustrations and colored figures, as well as the quantity of supplementary material made available, deserve special mention. Several supplementary datasets provided with a DOI (https://doi.org/10.7302/ccpt-fn83) are available online through Michigan’s institutional repository. This is an uncommon yet highly commendable initiative. This type of publication is unfortunately still the exception rather than the norm, especially when it concerns survey results. This is a book that I recommend both to archaeologists specialising in the Balkans, and to any colleague who wants to publish their own survey results, as a virtuous example. If I were to offer a critique, it would primarily be to reiterate the point I have already expressed above: with greater consideration of the published literature, the interpretative analysis would have been more robust and better aligned with the overall high scholarly quality of the volume.

References

Della Casa, Philippe. 1996. Velika Gruda II Die bronzezeitliche Nekropole Velika Gruda (Opš. Kotor, Montenegro). Universitätsforschungen zur prähistorischen Archäologie 33. Bonn, Rudolf Habelt.

Forenbaher, Stašo. 2018a. Special Place, Interesting Times : The Island of Palagruža and Transitional Periods in Adriatic Prehistory. Oxford, England: Archaeopress Archaeology.

Forenbaher, Stašo. 2018b. “Ljubljana i Cetina: Lončarski Stilovi 3. Tisućljeća Prije Krista Na Prostoru Istočnoga Jadrana.” Prilozi Instituta Za Arheologiju u Zagrebu 35: 113–57.

Forenbaher, Stašo. 2023. Early Burial Mounds in the Adriatic and the Diversity of Mortuary Practice in the 3rd Millennium B.C. Zagreb: Institut za arheologiju.

Gori, Maja. 2020. “Kατὰ Γῆν Καὶ Κατὰ Θάλασσαν. Cetina Communities on the Move across the Central Mediterranean and the Balkans in the 3rd Millennium BC.” In Objects, Ideas and Travelers. Contacts between the Balkans, the Aegean and Western Anatolia during the Bronze and Early Iron Age, Proc. Conf. to the Memory of A. Vulpe, edited by J. Maran, R. Băjenaru, S.C. Alincăi, A.D. Popescu, S. Hansen, 65–83. UPA. Habelt.

Heyd, Volker. 2007. “When the West Meets the East: The Eastern Periphery of the Bell Beaker Phenomenon and Its Relation with the Aegean Early Bronze Age.” In Between the Aegean and Baltic Seas, edited by I. Galanaki et al., 91–107. Liege.

Recchia, Giulia. 2020. “Reaching across the Adriatic: Northern and Western Interactions of the Cetina Phenomenon (25th–20th Centuries BC).” Godišnjak Centra Za Balkanološka Ispitivanja, no. 49: 5–28.

Tomas, Helena, and Mira Vukovic. 2023. “Dvije Kamene Gomile Kod Sela Grab – Krivodol Kraj Trilja.” Archaeologia Adriatica, November. https://doi.org/10.15291/archeo.4292.

Authors and Titles

Volume 1

1. Introduction to the Projekti Arkeologjik i Shkodrës (PASH). Michael L. Galaty and Lorenc Bejko
2. Geology, Geography, and Hydrology. Stan Galicki
3. History of Archaeological Research in the Shkodër Region. Michael L. Galaty and Lorenc Bejko
4. Historical Background. Zamir Tafilica, Ermal Baze, and Ols Lafe
5. Systematic, Intensive Landscape Survey Results. Michael L. Galaty, Lorenc Bejko, and Kailey Rocker
6. Assessing the Evidence for Conflict Using Geographic Information Systems. Michael L. Galaty, Dora Lambert, Erina Baci, Shefqet Lulja, and John C. Rodgers III
7. Excavations at Kodër Boks, Zagorë, and Gajtan. Michael L. Galaty, Lorenc Bejko, and James B. Harris.
8. Tumuli Excavation Results. Michael L. Galaty, Sylvia Deskaj, Lorenc Bejko, James B. Harris, and J. Ethan T. Hughes

Volume 2

9. The Lithic Assemblages. Rudenc Ruka
10. Prehistoric Pottery. Lorenc Bejko, Zhaneta Gjyshja, and Anisa Mara
11. Archaic, Classical, and Roman Pottery. Eduard Shehi
12. Roman and Late Roman Pottery. Brikena Shkodra-Rrugia
13. Medieval to Early Modern Pottery Finds from the Shkodër Region, Northern Albania. Joanita Vroom and Mink W. van IJzendoorn
14. Chemical Analysis of Pottery. Danielle J. Riebe, Sylvia Deskaj, and Michael L. Galaty
15. Petrographic Analysis of Prehistoric Pottery. Anisa Mara
16. Grinding Stones. Zhaneta Gjyshja
17. Other Small Finds. Michael L. Galaty, Lorenc Bejko, Rovena Kurti, and Zamir Tafilica
18. Archaeobotanical Remains from Gajtan and Zagorë. Susan E. Allen and Martha M. Wendel
19. Faunal Analysis. Richard W. Yerkes
20. Strontium Isotope and DNA Analysis. Michael L. Galaty, Sylvia Deskaj, Amy R. Michael, Francis Ö. Dudás, and Joshua A. Burbank
21. Ethnographic Research: Community Interactions in Shkodër Past and Present. Sylvia Deskaj
22. Conclusion. Michael L. Galaty and Lorenc Bejko