Archaeological Research in Albania

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的地拉那大学合作的项目，名为Shkodër考古项目(PASH)。首席调查员迈克尔·加拉蒂建议调查阿尔巴尼亚北部的社会不平等现象，这是位于西巴尔干亚得里亚海沿岸的一个具有重要战略意义的地区。阿尔巴尼亚北部向社会不平等过渡的标志是在公元前3000年青铜时代早期，建造了有核的山顶中心(“山堡”)，并将精英个人(“武士首领”)埋葬在土堆(“Tumuli”)中。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，重点是山堡和墓地。这些方法将能够确定单独或共同促成阿尔巴尼亚北部青铜时代社会组织戏剧性变化的各种因素。该团队计划进行两个季节(2012年和2013年)的地质和考古调查以及对巨浪掩埋的抢救性挖掘，然后在一个具有代表性的山堡进行挖掘(2014年)。研究区域包括Shkodra平原和周围的丘陵，位于巴尔干地区最大的淡水湖Shkodra湖的东岸。将进行地质调查，以确定湖岸和河道的变化日期，这可以与通过密集的考古调查确定的定居点的变化相关联。考古调查，以及乱世墓葬和具有代表性的山堡的挖掘，将产生文物和人类遗骸。这些将接受一系列分析测试，包括放射性碳测年。通过放射性碳测年，可以确定山堡和激流的建造是同时发生的，还是顺序发生的。埋葬在混乱中的战士酋长似乎获得了多种权力来源，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，在青铜时代开始时和整个青铜时代都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人的骨骼遗骸和来自肿块的牙齿进行锶同位素分析来解决。经济和生计的变化将通过对植物和动物遗骸的研究以及陶器残留物的分析来衡量。地区间相互作用的程度和方向将通过粘土和陶器的化学特征来衡量。最近，一些考古学家认为，精英机构和社会等级在青铜时代晚期(公元前2000-1000年)从近东经由希腊向北传播到欧洲。这个项目就是为了测试这个模型。不过，时间至关重要。随着Shkodër向北扩张，山上的堡垒和Tumuli正在迅速被摧毁。因此，PASH还包括一个针对土地所有者和农民的文化遗产教育项目，并将向数十名阿尔巴尼亚和美国学生传授考古侦察和抢救性挖掘的方法。

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.