Archaeological Research in Albania

Project jekti Arkeologjikë i Shkodrës (PASH)，即Shkodër考古项目，是密西西比州杰克逊的米尔萨普斯学院和阿尔巴尼亚地拉那大学的合作项目。首席研究员Michael Galaty建议调查阿尔巴尼亚北部的社会不平等现象，该地区位于亚得里亚海沿岸的巴尔干半岛西部，具有重要的战略意义。阿尔巴尼亚北部向社会不平等过渡的标志是在公元前3000年左右的早期青铜器时代开始时，有核的山顶中心（“山堡”）的建设和精英个人（“战士酋长”）在土丘（“tumuli”）中的埋葬。为了更好地了解阿尔巴尼亚和整个欧洲向社会不平等的过渡，研究小组正在进行为期三年的跨学科考古研究，重点是山堡和土丘。这些方法将有助于确定单独或共同促成阿尔巴尼亚北部社会组织的巨大变化的各种因素，这些变化标志着青铜器时代。考古队计划在2012年和2013年两个季节对古坟进行地质考古调查和抢救挖掘，并在2014年对具有代表性的山堡进行挖掘。研究区域包括斯库德拉平原和周围的山丘，位于巴尔干地区最大的淡水湖斯库德拉湖的东岸。将进行地质调查，以便确定湖岸和河道变化的日期，这些变化可以与通过密集的考古调查确定的定居变化相关联。考古调查，连同古墓和代表性山堡的挖掘，将产生文物和人类遗骸。这些将经受一系列的分析测试，包括放射性碳定年。放射性碳定年法可以确定山堡和古坟的建造是同时发生的还是先后发生的。埋葬在古坟中的武士首领似乎拥有多种权力来源，从暴力和战争到控制土地、食物和贸易。此外，移民事件可能影响了事件的进程，在青铜时代开始和整个时代带来了新的血液和思想。冲突和迁移将通过物理人类学评估和对墓室中人类骨骼遗骸和牙齿的锶同位素分析来解决。经济和生计的变化将通过研究植物和动物遗骸和陶器残留物分析来衡量。区域间相互作用的程度和方向将通过粘土和陶器的化学表征来测量。最近，一些考古学家提出，精英制度和社会等级制度在青铜时代晚期（公元前2000-1000年）从近东经希腊向北传播到欧洲。本项目旨在测试该模型。不过，时间是至关重要的。随着城市向北扩张，Shkodër的山丘堡垒和古坟正在迅速被摧毁。因此，PASH还包括一项针对土地所有者和农民的文化遗产教育计划，并将指导数十名阿尔巴尼亚和美国学生学习考古侦察和救援挖掘的方法。

The Projekti Arkeologjikë i Shkodrës (PASH), the Shkodër Archaeological Project, is a collaboration between Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi and the University of Tirana, Albania. Michael Galaty, the Principal investigator proposes to investigate the appearance of social inequality in northern Albania, a strategically important region located in the western Balkans along the Adriatic coast. The transition to social inequality in northern Albania was marked by the construction of nucleated, hill-top centers ("hill forts") and burial of elite individuals ("warrior chiefs") in mounds ("tumuli") at the start of the Early Bronze Age, about 3000 B.C. In order to understand better the transition to social inequality in Albania, and in Europe generally, the research team is conducting three years of interdisciplinary archaeological research focused on hill forts and burial mounds. The methods will allow the identification of the various factors that alone or in combination contributed to the dramatic changes in social organization in northern Albania that marked the Bronze Age. The team plans two seasons (2012 and 2013) of geological and archaeological survey and rescue excavation of tumulus burials, followed by excavation at a representative hill fort (2014).The study region encompasses the Shkodra Plain and surrounding hills, and is situated along the eastern shore of Shkodra Lake, the largest freshwater lake in the Balkans. Geological surveys will be conducted in order to date lake shore and river course changes, which can be correlated with shifts in settlement, as established through intensive archaeological survey. Archaeological survey, along with excavation of tumulus burials and a representative hill fort, will produce artifacts and human remains. These will be subjected to a battery of analytical tests, including radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon dating will allow determination of whether hill fort and tumulus construction occurred simultaneously or sequentially. The warrior chiefs buried in tumuli seem to have accessed multiple sources of power, ranging from violence and warfare to control of land, food, and trade. In addition, episodes of migration may have affected the course of events, bringing new blood and ideas at the start of and throughout the Bronze Age. Conflict and migration will be addressed through physical-anthropological assessment and strontium-isotope analysis of human bone remains and teeth from tumuli. Changes in economy and subsistence will be gauged through study of botanical and faunal remains and residue analysis of pottery. And the degree and direction of inter-regional interaction will be measured through the chemical characterization of clays and pottery.Recently, some archaeologists have suggested that elite institutions and social hierarchy spread north into Europe from the Near East via Greece in the later Bronze Age (2000-1000 B.C.). This project is designed to test this model. Time is of the essence, though. Hill forts and tumuli are being fast destroyed in Shkodër as the city expands northward. PASH also includes, therefore, a cultural-heritage educational program targeting landowners and farmers, and will instruct dozens of Albanian and American students in methods of archaeological reconnaissance and rescue excavation.