JWSR v12n2 - Complete Issue  Diachronic Frontiers: Landscape Archaeology in Highland Albania* journal of world-systems research, xii, , december , – http://www.jwsr.org issn 1076–156x © 2006 Robert Schon & Michael L. Galaty introduction Modern frontier studies began over a century ago with Frederick Jackson Turner’s presentation of “Th e Signifi cance of the Frontier in American History,” delivered in 1893. In this now iconic paper, Turner not only outlined a general concept of the frontier, but also called attention to the variability of cul- tural encounters in frontier zones and their bidirectional transformative power. Subsequent scholarship focused more on the former aspect of Turner’s thesis: the frontier as “the outer edge of the wave—the meeting point between savagery and civilization,” and less on the latter: “the wilderness masters the colonist” (Turner 1920 [1893]: 34). More recently, frontier researchers have reoriented their perspective on frontiers from ‘edges of advancement,’ to ‘zones of contact and interaction’ (e.g., The modern practice of archaeological survey—regional, intensive, diachronic, and interdisciplinary—is well-suited to the study of frontiers. In this paper we provide the exam- ple of the Shala Valley Project, which studies the northern Albanian mountain valley of Shala, home to the Shala tribe. Northern Albania is the only place in Europe where tribal societies survived into the 20t century. We attribute their survival to the frontier position of northern Albania, wherein tribal chiefs controlled access to and through valley systems. Shala provides a classic example of a “refuge” society, perched within a strongly contested peripheral zone. The tribe actively and creatively resisted state incorporation during both the Ottoman (Early Modern) and Modern periods. The northern Alba- nian frontier may have formed much earlier, though, perhaps as early as the Bronze Age. We bring a broad array of evidence to bear on this question, drawn from the ethno-histori- cal, excavation, and of course, survey-archaeo- logical records. abstract: * Th e Shala Valley Project’s  and  fi eld seasons were funded by Millsaps College, the University of Louisville, the American Embassy in Tirana, International Peace Research Association, and two private donors, Bud Robinson and John Stevens. We are very grateful for their support. We would like to acknowledge the contributions to this paper of our SVP col- leagues, in particular Ols Lafe, Wayne Lee, Mentor Mustafa, Zamir Tafi lica, Charles Watkinson, and Antonia Young. Th is paper was originally presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Ethnohistory, Santa Fe, New Mexico, November , , in a session on frontiers. We would like to thank Tom Hall for inviting us to participate. Finally, we would like to thank Mitch Allen for an insightful and constructive review of a fi rst draft. Robert Schon Department of Classics University of Arizona Learning Services Building, Room 216 1512 East First Street PO Box 210105 Tucson, AZ 85721-0105 rschon@email.arizona.edu Michael L. Galaty Department of Sociology and Anthropology Millsaps College 1701 North State Street Jackson, MS 39210 galatml@millsaps.edu Robert Schon & Michael L. Galaty mailto:rschon@email.arizona.edu mailto:galatml@millsaps.edu http://www.jwsr.org Robert Schon & Michael L. Galaty232 Diachronic Frontiers  Hall 1986, 1998, 2000, 2001; see also Kardulias (1999), in particular the idea of ‘negotiated peripherality’). With this reorientation, and given historical, ethno- graphic, and archaeological data of fi ner resolution that allow us to see better what goes on in contact zones, scholarly thinking about how frontiers form and develop has changed. Culture contact is no longer seen as a unidirectional process in which indigenous groups are passive recipients of the cultural norms of expanding empires (Lightfoot and Martinez 1995). Rather, a multitude of case studies illuminate the complexity of interactions that occur in frontier zones and call attention to the transformations that take place on either side of notional boundaries (see examples in Chase-Dunn and Hall 1997; Hall, ed. 2000). Over the last couple of decades, many archaeologists have adopted this new perspective (e.g., Parker 2006; Stein 1999, 2003; Schortman and Urban 1992; Wells 2005). Culture contact leaves its mark in the material record, and as a result, it is a process that archaeology is well suited to study. As with other disciplines that examine frontiers, model building and fi ner data resolution highlight the complexity of frontier zones and cause them to evade monolithic defi nition. While this may seem problematic, we welcome this complexity. In this paper, we focus on one aspect of frontier studies (indigenous responses to imperialism) and one region where culture contact has taken place (northern Albania) in order to demonstrate the utility of investigating frontiers through archaeology. frontiers and archaeological survey Th e goal of this paper is to demonstrate how regional survey data can be employed to elucidate aspects of culture contact in frontier zones. We set out to achieve this goal by fi rst briefl y presenting the aspects of regional survey in general that can directly inform the study of culture contact. And second, by presenting as a case study the preliminary results of our own fi eldwork in high- land Albania. Archaeological survey is an ideal technique with which to study contact zones. In the fi rst place, it is regional in scale—as are frontiers. A survey project can construct its sampling universe to encompass an entire zone where con- tact occurred, rather than focusing on isolated sites within that broader spa- tial arena. Secondly, archaeological survey is diachronic. Frontier zones in one period are often frontier zones in other periods as well. Th e diachronic study of a single region with multiple episodes of culture contact can be highly illuminat- ing. Th irdly, regional survey can be interdisciplinary in approach, including not just archaeologists, but historians, ethnographers, and geo-scientists as well. Fourth, and fi nally, surveys collect data about settlement patterns, landscape change, and patterns of land use that pertain to the individuals most aff ected by frontiers: those who lived in them, so-called ‘people without history’ to para- phrase Wolf (1997). In this light, our project, the Shala Valley Project (SVP),¹ parallels Lightfoot’s approach at Fort Ross of a “holistic, diachronic, and broadly com- parative” examination of culture contact (Lightfoot 1995: 202). Th e SVP com- bines all of these factors in order to study one small frontier zone: it is regional in scope, diachronic and interdisciplinary in approach, and is gathering multi- ple lines of evidence to demonstrate how people living in a high-mountain valley successfully resisted incorporation by multiple external powers. the shala valley project Albania is a small country located along the Adriatic coast of the Balkan Peninsula between Greece to the south and the former Yugoslavia to the east and north (Figure 1). Th e northern high mountains are typically described as being extremely remote. For example: [Northern Albania is] among the wildest and most inaccessible [areas] of the Balkan Peninsula and peopled for the most part by savage and fanatical mountaineers. (Sir Arthur Evans 1885, quoted in Hammond 1976: 35) Th e degree to which the mountaineers of northern Albania have or have not been isolated from the outside world is open to question. Our initial research indicates that materials and people moved in and out of the mountains with relative ease. Th at said, if the people of Shala had wanted to isolate themselves, they certainly had the means to do so; the mountains that surround the valley approach 3000 meters and can be crossed only via a small number of high-alti- tude passes. Th e southern entrance to the valley is at a point where the Shala River cuts through the mountains between spectacular cliff s, the ‘Gates of Shala.’ Sealing the valley would have been a relatively easy matter and in fact was done (with tree trunks) in the early 20t century when the Montenegrins invaded Albania and took Shkodër (Durham 1914: 15, 27, 35). Extreme isola- tion may help to explain the origins and persistence in northern Albania, Shala included, of so-called ‘tribal’ societies (see Boehm 1983, 1984a, 1984b regarding similar societies in Montenegro). However, we also suspect that their position in a frontier zone might help to explain the formation and preservation of the northern Albanian tribes. ¹. See http://www.millsaps.edu/svp. http://www.millsaps.edu/svp Robert Schon & Michael L. Galaty234 Diachronic Frontiers  Mt. Jezerce 2694m SVP Theth KOSOVO/A Shkodra Tirana Drin River MONTENEGRO M A C E D O N IA GREECE Corfu Adriatic Sea N ALBANIA Figure 1 – Map of Albania Showing Location of the Shala Valley In the Dukagjin region of northern Albania, oral customary laws regard- ing kinship relations and tribal political organization were codifi ed by a 15t century chief named Lekë Dukagjini. Th e Kanuni i Lekë Dukag jinit was not transcribed in full until the early 20t century by a Franciscan priest, Father Shtjefën Gjeçov (1989; see also Hasluck 1954). Today, aspects of the tribal system continue to operate in places like Shala, in matters of kinship, such as marriage and inheritance for example (Odile 1989; Whittaker 1968, 1976). Large house- holds (shpia) organized into neighborhoods (mehalla) share patrilineal descent from a common apical ancestor thereby forming exogamous segmented clans ( fi si). Several neighborhoods and fi si together compose a single village. Political power is vested in the person of the family patriarch (zot i shpi). Family heads are appointed or elected to a village council (kuvend) that makes decisions of importance to the whole community. A single council member is elected ‘head- man’ or kryeplak. In Ottoman times, several villages and fi si might be politically joined in a bajrak (a ‘banner’) led by a bajraktar (a ‘banner chief ’). Bajraks formed loose tribal confederations; e.g. those of the Shala ‘tribe’ joined Shosh, Shala’s nearest neighbor to the south, and several other tribes, to form the Dukagjin ‘confederacy’ ( farë), one of ten tribal confederations in northern Albania. Life in Shala is diffi cult. Th e climate is Continental to Alpine and the win- ters are long and hard. Th e economy is currently built around sedentary agro- pastoralism (i.e. ‘mixed’ village farming; see Halstead 1990) and functions at or just below subsistence levels; government aid or remittances from overseas relatives bridge the gap. Settled agro-pastoralism and tribal socio-political organization together have had a profound eff ect on Shala’s landscape and built environment (Plate 1). Large stone houses, some of them fortifi ed (kulla, small- windowed towers that provide protection and sanctuary to wanted men), dot elaborately terraced foothills. Fields are irrigated and run-off is controlled by a complex system of small dams and canals. Property boundaries are marked by stone walls and fences, and deeply entrenched, clearly very old paths link fi elds and homes. During the summers of 2005 and 2006, the SVP conducted research in the village of Th eth (which is divided into nine neighborhoods), located at the upper end of the Shala Valley, and in lower Shala, in the neighborhoods of Nderlysaj, Gak, Lekaj Musha, Gimaj, and Nen Mavriq (Figures 2 and 3). We intensively surveyed all of the cultivated or cleared land in both areas (circa 4 sq km in 683 tracts, 15-m walker spacing). Many of the forested areas around neighbor- hoods were surveyed extensively, as were several of the high-altitude pastures. In Th eth, all visible architecture (460 structures) was located and recorded. All structures were mapped and photographed, and many were drawn. At the time of archaeological and/or architectural survey, preliminary interviews were Robert Schon & Michael L. Galaty236 Diachronic Frontiers  Plate 1 – View of the Ulaj, Kolaj, and Grunasi Neighborhoods (mehalla) of Th eth Village, Looking South conducted with the land- and/or home owners. Heads of 26 households later participated in much longer, more detailed interviews (composed of questions relating to family and social structure, local history, land use, economy, migra- tion, and change) conducted by the two project ethnographers. Th e picture of Shala, past and present, that is emerging from our fi eldwork is an intriguing one.² results Evidence for prehistoric settlement in the valley is confi ned to the Middle Paleolithic period (Figure 3; SVP Site 001) and perhaps to the Bronze and Iron Ages (Figures 2 and 3; SVP Site 006, and perhaps Sites 002, 005, and 008). Th ere are two major historical periods during which we know that our study region was a frontier: the Ottoman period and the period during which the Albanian ². Th e architectural survey will recommence in lower Shala in . Ethnographic interviews have taken place primarily in Th eth, but will be extended south in . Our goal is to survey archaeologically the whole Shala tribal territory, from the headwaters of the river in Okol to the Gates of Shala. About two-thirds of the territory has been surveyed thus far. OKOL NIK GJONAJ GJELAJ NEN RRETH ULAJ KOLAJ GRUNAS GJECAJ N 1 1 2 km0 2005 Survey Tracts Structure ULAJ Theth Neighborhood Site 002 Site 003 Site 004 Site 005 Site 006 NDREJAJ Figure 2 – Map of Tracts and Structures Surveyed by the Shala Valley Project in 2005 Robert Schon & Michael L. Galaty238 Diachronic Frontiers  Dakaj (S007) Gimaj (S008) NDERLYSAJ GAK LEKAJ MUSHA GIMAJ NEN MAVRIQ 1 0 1 2 N Middle Paleolithic (S001) 2006 Survey Tracts KM GAK Lower Shala Neighborhood Figure 3 – Map of Tracts and Structures Surveyed by the Shala Valley Project in 2006 nation state formed (fi rst under King Zog and subsequently under the totalitar- ian Communist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha). Th e situation in Shala during the earlier historical periods (e.g., during the Roman and Byzantine periods) is unclear, but it may be that the valley was abandoned during this time, or only used on a temporary, seasonal basis.³ In both the Ottoman period and during the early 20t century imperial powers encroached upon the territory of local, tribal groups with the goal of incorporating them into their bureaucratic systems. Th e relationships between tribes were mitigated by local politics, but also by outside forces. When an external group impinged on their territory, local diff erences were put aside to react to the greater threat. Th us, the activity of core states within the northern Albanian frontier had strong and lasting eff ects on the region’s socio-political systems. Prehistoric Shala Humans (in this case Homo sapiens neanderthalensis) fi rst entered Shala during the Middle Paleolithic period, probably during the last interglacial (circa 131,000–114,000 years ago) when the mountains would have been free from permanent ice and snow cover. In 2004 and 2005 we collected stone tools of classic Mousterian type at SVP Site 001 (Figure 4). Th e valley would not have been inhabitable in Upper Paleolithic times, and we have found no evidence for Mesolithic or Neolithic occupation. At the tail end of the 2005 fi eld season, we identifi ed a small structure at the southernmost tip of the neighborhood of Grunas in Th eth (Figure 2, Plates 2 and 3). Th e architectural survey indicated that the ruined building was unlike any other known structure in Shala. As a result the site (dubbed SVP Site 006) was subjected to test excavations in 2006.⁴ Preliminary results indicate that Site 006, which actually is composed of fi ve diff erent structures and is associated with various terraces and walls, is prob- ably Late Bronze Age and/or Early Iron Age in date (circa 1000 bc; Figures 5, 6, and 7). In four test units and eleven shovel tests, we found many pieces of dark ³. SVP Sites  and  are Early Modern scatters of pottery associated with existing and ruined house compounds. SVP Site  is the Late Medieval fortress of Dakaj, discussed below. See Figures  and . ⁴. A longer report on the excavations at SVP Site , with maps and photos of artifacts, is available at the project website: http://www.millsaps.edu/svp/SVP%20fi nal%20report%202006.pdf http://www.millsaps.edu/svp/SVP%20final%20report%202006.pdf Robert Schon & Michael L. Galaty240 Diachronic Frontiers  Figure 4 – Middle Paleolithic Stone Tools from SVP Site 001 red, burnished pottery that is similar to prehistoric pottery found elsewhere in northern Albania. At the very top of the cultural horizon we found a few small lumps of iron. Stone tools, including one fl ake of tan chert that may have been imported, and fragments of bone were found throughout. Th ere also was a substantial amount of charcoal, and we have submitted samples for radiocarbon dating.5 One interesting aspect of Site 006 is that it is located in a defensible, stra- tegic position at a natural choke point in the valley. Th e site is protected on the west by the Th eth River, which passes through a deep gorge at this point, and steep cliff s. To the north of the site is a hill which is spanned by the remains of large, rubble walls. Th e eastern edge of the site appears to have been fortifi ed (Figures 5 and 6), though we cannot yet be certain that the walls and terraces at the site are prehistoric.⁶ Th e spur of land upon which the site is situated comes to a point at its southern end, which looks out over the lower part of the valley. Our working hypothesis is that Site 006 was a late prehistoric stronghold that controlled access to the northern reaches of Shala. It may be that the pas- tures at Th eth were intrinsically valuable and worth controlling. Or it may be that as early as the Bronze Age the Shala Valley constituted an important trans- portation route for people—shepherds, traders, warriors—moving back and forth between the valley of the Drin River and points north, in Montenegro.⁷ Th us, it is possible that already during the late periods of prehistory and just prior to Roman conquest (the fi rst Roman incursions in northern Albania occurred in 229 bc), Shala fi lled a frontier position, perched between competing ‘Illyrian’ power centers to the south and west along the coast between Shkodër and Dalmatia and to the north and east in interior Montenegro and Kosova. Whatever the case, the valley appears to have been abandoned in Roman and ⁵. Th e pottery from Site  is similar to two pieces of pottery found in  near the rock shelters at Okol in Th eth (Site ). Site  is a ring of fi ve large stones embed- ded into the ground around a central stone. It is near Site  and so may be prehistoric. Site  is complex of large, overgrown walls located in the neighborhood of Gimaj, pos- sibly prehistoric. Sites  and  will be shovel-tested in . ⁶. We plan to study and perhaps date the walls and terraces at Site  using vari- ous geophysical methods, including magnetic susceptibility and radiocarbon dating. Th is will take place in . ⁷. Th e Drin River valley is located to the south of Shala and in ancient times was the main east-west corridor between the Adriatic and the Balkan interior, Kosova in particular (Baçe ; Hoxha ; Palavestra ; Përzhita ; Përzhita and Hoxha ). Robert Schon & Michael L. Galaty242 Diachronic Frontiers  Plate 2 – Panoramic View of SVP Site 006 from Above and to the East Byzantine times, fully so by the beginning of the Slavic migrations in the 6t century ad. Ottoman According to tradition, the ancestors of Shala’s modern occupants arrived in Late Medieval times (sometime before ad 1500), having fl ed Ottoman perse- cution elsewhere. As a result, Shala may constitute a so-called ‘region of refuge’ (Beltran 1979; cf. Boehm 1983, 1984; Hall 2000: 241). Many of the oldest houses in Shala (some in ruins, many bearing elaborate carvings, a few associated with Late Medieval and Early Modern pottery) mark the valley’s fi rst neighborhoods (parts of Gak, Gimaj, and Lekaj in lower Shala, and perhaps slightly later, Okol, lower Gjelaj, and Kolaj/Ulaj in Th eth) and architectural survey indicates their gradual expansion as households grew and split. About the time the fi rst villages were established a fortress was built atop a prominent peak in the neighborhood of Dakaj (Figure 3 and Plate 4). In 2006 we carefully mapped the entire site (SVP Site 007; Figure 8). Our survey produced a large collection of pottery, all of which seems to date to the Late Medieval period (ad 1200–1500). Much of the pottery is glazed and decorated, some with incised lines and/or combing, while some is heavily-tempered, coarse cooking ware. We also found ceramic wasters and pieces of iron slag, which may indicate on-site production of pottery and iron tools. Dakaj, it seems, was not simply a fortress or refuge site but it had an industrial function as well. Th e site retains some of its circuit walls (Figure 8), but local landowners indicate that wall stones had been carted away to build nearby houses. Th ere are also the remains of at least two, perhaps more, large building complexes. Th ese were likely residential (given the presence of cooking wares and indus- try), but according to local tradition, a church once existed at Dakaj. Careful surveys of the fi elds that ring Dakaj (Figure 3) produced no artifacts, so it is not clear whether Medieval houses or a village existed somewhere in the direct vicinity of the site. Certainly the site is well situated for defense and monitor- ing of the valley. Th ere are excellent views in all directions. It is unclear, how- ever, who controlled Dakaj: local elite, representatives of Venetian interests, or church offi cials are all possibilities. Continued work at Dakaj, as well as archi- val research, may help answer this question. In any case, the Late Medieval settlement system is dominated by one large site, Dakaj, repeating a pattern established in the Bronze Age at Grunas. It may be therefore that Dakaj and Grunas served a similar function: control of movement into and through the valley. Th e ability to isolate and protect the valley took on even greater signifi - cance in the coming centuries as the Ottomans put increasing pressure on the northern tribes. Ottoman encroachment triggered several interesting responses on the part of Shala’s inhabitants in the areas of economy, land use, and social organization. 764 744 784 724 724 744 764 784 804 8 2 4 Theth River Stream Building Foundation (age and function unknown) Main Gate Bridge Spring Very Large Rock Shteg Large Walls Wall (along path) Bridge N W a ll A lo n g R iv e r P o ss . W a ll Figure 5 – Map of the Hinterland of SVP Site 006 Robert Schon & Michael L. Galaty244 Diachronic Frontiers  Given northern Albania’s geography, climate, and environment, we might predict some form of long-distance, seasonal transhumance of the type that exists, for example, amongst the Koutsovlachs of the high Pindos range of Greece (Chang 1992; Chang and Tourtelotte 1993), but Shala’s inhabitants are fully sedentary village farmers. One important question, then, is why year- round village agro-pastoralism developed in Shala in Early Modern times. It may be that Ottoman attempts to incorporate northern Albania and Albanians, through forced conversion to Islam for example (which began in earnest in the 16t century; Pollo and Puto 1981: 90), encouraged a retreat to high valleys, such as Th eth. Th is is the story villagers tell. But fl ight from Ottoman persecution cannot have been the only factor driving migration to and year-round settle- ment in northern Albania. Another plausible explanation is that changes in settlement and land use elsewhere in Albania and nearby regions spurred indi- rectly socio-economic change in Shala. For example, in the 15t century, the Ottomans extended the timar system (whereby Ottoman soldiers [i.e. sipahis] managed tracts of land for the Sultan) from south and central to north Albania causing population displacements 1 2 3 Te rra ce 7 Te rra ce 6 Te rra ce 5 5 4 Terrace 8 Terrace 10 Terrace 9 Te rra ce 1 Te rra ce 2 Te rra ce 3 Te rra ce 4 N 0 5 10m SVP S006 GRUNAS STREAM C LI FF S THETH RIVER BELOW TO WEST PATH DOWNHILL TO THETH RIVER ST001 ST002 W al l C on tin ue s Figure 6 – Map of the Immediate Vicinity of SVP Site 006 and a change in systems of land tenure (Pollo and Puto 1981: 64, 66, 88–89; Winnifrith 1992). As a result, people may have moved deeper into the moun- tains not only to escape forced conversion, but also to avoid becoming landless serfs tethered to foreign landlords. With increased immigration, population centers in the mountains may have become larger and access to resources, such as good land, circumscribed. In Th eth, as in northern Albania generally, the response was agricultural intensifi cation, perhaps through terracing and irri- gation. Investments in the built environment created the landscape visible today. As the landscape became more structured so too did the socio-political system. It was at this time that the tribal system as recorded in the Kanuni i Lekë Dukag jinit probably evolved, a dynamic, social response to the pressures and possibilities of life in a frontier zone. One major diff erence between seasonally-transhumant Koutsovlachs and settled, high-altitude Albanian agro-pastoralists is that the Vlachs do not pos- Large Rock STRUCTURE 1 1 2 4 3 Modern Wall M o d e rn W a ll O ve r A n ci e n t W a ll STRUCTURE 2 Small Terrace STRUCTURE 3 Terrace Large Rocks Terrace 5 6 5 Shovel Tests 4 3 7 8 9 10 2m N 10 11 Upper Course Lower Course Foundation Course Path Downhill To Theth River Wall Fall Wall Fall W a ll C o n tin u e s SVP S006 GRUNAS Figure 7 – Map of Structures 001-003 at SVP Site 006 Showing Location of Excavation Units and Shovel Tests Plate 4 – Dakaj (SVP Site 007) from the North Robert Schon & Michael L. Galaty246 Diachronic Frontiers  Plate 3 – Panoramic View of Structures 001–003 at SVP Site 006 from the East sess tribal political organization (Chang and Tourtollette 1993: 250), whereas the Albanians do. Th is may be due in part to population pressure and greater resource scarcity in the Dukagjin as compared to the Pindos, requiring a more complex system of land management, but there are equally important historical reasons for the existence and persistence of Albanian tribes. Unlike northern Albania, Vlach kinship relationships and political systems are only very loosely defi ned. In Ottoman times Vlach herders were well-integrated into the larger regional economy; greater freedom of movement allowed a fl exible Vlach econ- omy that responded to risk through regional exchange. Conversely, northern Albanians typically have resisted economic and political integration. In fact, there is good evidence that the Ottomans deliberately discouraged integration by exploiting tribal rivalries. Economic and political competition reduced the possibility of tribal confederation and coordinated, mass uprisings (as had hap- pened under Skanderbeg, the leader of the 15t–century Albanian resistance movement). Ottoman offi cials actually created the bajrak system (in the late 18t century; the fi rst written reference to bajraks is from 1783; Ulqini 1991: 167) so that ‘banner chiefs’ might be played one against the other (Plate 5). In this social atmosphere—population growth and/or movement, shifts to sedentary village agro-pastoralism, scarce resources, increased investment in landscape management, increasingly circumscribed grazing territories, Ottoman political meddling—the kinship and tribal systems were not abandoned, as might have Robert Schon & Michael L. Galaty248 Diachronic Frontiers  Figure 8 – Map of Dakaj Vegetation Rock Crevasse Wall? Vegetation Ditch Vegetation Tree Walls and Wall Fall Wall Terrace 1 Terrace 2 Terrace 3 Pottery Scatter Large Rocks Rocks C L I F F Walls w/ Mortar Walls w/ Mortar Trees Lots of Rubble Poss. Structure? Poss. Walls Interior Poss. Walls Interior Cliff 3m deep N 0 4 8 12 16m SVP S007 DAKAJ CLIFF (STRAIGHT DOWN) CLIFF (STRAIGHT DOWN) STEEP SLOPE (PATH ALONG TOP) MODERN CHURCH (OTHER SIDE OF GULLY) STREAM (BELOW TO SOUTH) CLIFF (STRAIGHT DOWN) happened with full incorporation into the world-system (Galaty 2002); rather the customary laws that defi ned social and political relationships were codi- fi ed in the Kanun, which was then strictly enforced, which is exactly what Hall (2000: 241) predicts for so-called ‘regions of refuge.’ It may be that as confl icts between political segments intensifi ed a ‘ juridical’ solution was sought. Formation of the Nation State Th e northern tribes were a political force in post-independence Albania (Vickers 1999). King Zog (neé Zogu), who ascended to the throne in 1928, was a chief of the powerful Mati tribe. In the interest of regional stability, it was the goal of various western governments to aid in the establishment of a stable Albanian state and the northern Albanian frontier played a key role in the national and international power struggles that accompanied the establishment of a centralized government in Tirana. Tribal politics were primarily local in scale, however tribal leaders were well aware of the ramifi cations of impending Albanian statehood. As the Tirana Government (as it was called) took form it sought to incorporate the northern highlands into its political and adminis- trative structure. Th e northern tribes saw the Tirana Government as another external body attempting to impinge on their territory and curtail their tradi- tional lifestyle (Lane 1923). In order to succeed, the central government knew it would have to appease and subdue the country’s major social classes: the northern highland tribes (consisting primarily of Catholic and Sunni Muslim pastoralists), the urban Orthodox and Catholic middle class, and the lowland Shiite peasants—remnants of the Ottoman feudal system. In this regard, the perpetually feuding tribes had common interests that fostered political unity. Ultimately some degree of integration was achieved through a combination of negotiation and violence. In 1921, Rose Wilder Lane, daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder and someone well familiar with frontiers, visited the Shala Valley of northern Albania with a pair of Red Cross co-workers who hoped to establish a school in the moun- tains. Th ey were accompanied by Rrok Perolli, an agent of the interior ministry, Rexh Meta, a 12-year-old Muslim orphan (and head of his household) whom Rose eventually put through Cambridge University, and a pair of well-armed gendarmes. In her memoir of the trip, Th e Peaks of Shala (1923), Lane vividly describes the customs and beliefs of the members of the Shala tribe she encoun- tered and recounts a number of discussions she witnessed concerning the place of tribal society within the nascent nation state. Th roughout her account, the Shala and neighboring Shosh tribes are in the midst of a blood feud. She relates one story in which a Shala man abducted a Shosh woman so that his son might marry her (Lane 1923: 30–31). Not an unusual event, except the woman turned out to be married and her husband took off ense. To preserve his honor, the husband shot and killed the son. According to the Kanun, the murder was unjustifi ed, since it was the father who should have been shot not his son. Th e result was a series of retribution killings (sanc- tioned by the law code) that ultimately settled the dispute. Such feuds were Robert Schon & Michael L. Galaty250 Diachronic Frontiers  endemic to tribal life and leave their material traces in the form of kulla. Punctuating periods of blood feud are besas, local peace treaties during which all killings cease. A besa may be performed to negotiate an end to a feud, to give men an opportunity to participate in the harvest, or to cope with an outside threat. Such was the case in the mid 1920’s. On December 17, 1924, after a period of exile, former prime minister and future king, Ahmet Zogu, returned to Albania across its northern frontier with well-armed Yugoslavian and Russian troops. A week later he installed himself as dictator in Tirana. Unlike his previous attempts at rule, which included nego- tiation and appeasement, Zogu treated his rivals with ruthless violence. Among his goals was the disarmament of the mountain tribes—needless to say, not a popular policy. In November 1926, partly funded by the Italian and Yugoslav governments (the very governments that had supported Zogu’s return), the northern Gheg tribesmen united and launched a revolt. It was crushed within two weeks. In the ensuing year, men who participated in the revolt were detained and executed. A plaque, shown to us in Th eth by a descendant of Kol Marku (whose name is second on the list), memorializes the men from both the Shala and Plate 5 – 1920s-Era Photograph of the Bajraktar of Th eth Symbolically Surrendering His Gun to Representatives of the Tirana Government Note: Used with the permission of the Phototekë Marubi in Shkodër, Albania. Shoshi tribes who participated in the revolt and were executed together in 1927 (Plate 6). Just a few years earlier, these same men would have eagerly killed one another in the midst of the above-mentioned blood feud. Th e inhabitants of the Shala Valley, while seemingly isolated local actors, living what their contempo- raries considered to be an antiquated lifestyle, were nevertheless aware of their role in the global arena. Th ey knew that national—in fact international—laws, such as where to draw borders, would strongly aff ect them and their families; they had no choice but to declare besa and revolt. Th is time, though, histori- cal forces were working against them and their traditional defense mechanism, isolation, failed. Th e pacifi cation of the northern tribes is strongly refl ected in the results of our fi eldwork. We have identifi ed a major shift in building style that accord- ing to oral testimony dates to the Zogist period. In the late ‘20s to early ‘30s, houses became signifi cantly less fortifi ed: small windows—freng ji—were closed up and/or replaced by large, glass-paned windows; traditional access to second- story living quarters, by ladder or wood stairs that could be pushed away easily during an attack, was replaced by fi rst-fl oor doors and internal staircases; ani- mals were moved out of houses and into barns; and most dramatically, large families split up—the need for communal defense no longer existed. Feud was the engine that powered the Kanun. Without feud and the Kanun, and the frontier situation that necessitated them, the tribal system was doomed. world-systems theory and the northern albanian tribes In the foregoing discussion we have repeatedly (and rather generally) refer- enced world-systems theory in an attempt to explain the patterns of settlement and settlement change documented thus far in Shala. We have referred to Shala as a ‘frontier,’ but also as a ‘region of refuge.’ In light of the results discussed above, it is now possible to describe more precisely a world-systems model for Shala. Taking a world-systems approach, we might defi ne northern Albania, Shala in particular, as ‘marginal,’ located within a wide, peripheral frontier zone that stretched across the mid-section of the Balkan peninsula (see Sherratt 1993 for the ‘nuclear-margin’ concept specifi cally). Th e nature of this frontier shifted through time depending on the strength and goals of regional impe- rial expansion. Various empires touched northern Albania, from several direc- tions, sometimes simultaneously (at which times the region was a ‘contested periphery,’ see Allen 1997; Chase-Dunn and Hall 1997; Cline 2000) but none it seems managed to fully conquer and/or incorporate the region. It appears to have operated largely outside the interest or control of the imperial political- economies that surrounded it. Th e question is why northern Albania escaped Robert Schon & Michael L. Galaty252 Diachronic Frontiers  conquest, particularly when so many surrounding regions were ‘incorporated’ into expanding empires. Processes of incorporation appear to have operated along a continuum that runs from the complete economic domination of peripheral communities by core states (so-called ‘eff ective’ or ‘formal’ incorporation) to very informal interactions between core states and isolated, independent regions (so-called ‘contact’ peripheries) (see Hall 1986: 391–392, 1998: 256, 2001: 242). Most epi- sodes of incorporation appear to fall somewhere in between these two idealized extremes and in reality expanding states used a variety of tactics depending on the situation. ‘Regions of refuge’ are typically thought to fall somewhere in the middle range, and refuge societies often manage to exploit their marginal, frontier position in order to avoid formal incorporation. Kardulias (1999) refers to this situation as ‘negotiated peripherality.’ In late prehistoric times, Shala may have been valuable as prime grazing territory, as a transportation route, or both, and thus worth controlling. We hypothesize that this was the prime function of SVP Site 006: to monitor move- ment through the mid-section of the valley. It may be that those who lived at Site 006 stayed there through the early historical periods, but the valley seems to have been abandoned or at least very lightly used in Roman and Byzantine times. Th is is quite surprising given the evidence for these periods in regions surrounding Shala, along the Drin River road in particular. Extensive surveys in tribal territories between Shala and the Drin, planned for 2007, may help resolve this mystery. If evidence for early historical settlement is found there, then the negative evidence from Shala will become more meaningful. Shala appears to have been re-populated on a permanent basis in Medieval times, as documented at the site of Dakaj (SVP Site 007). As described above, Dakaj’s role as a fortress is beyond doubt, but it is not yet clear who lived there and whether they dominated the newly established villages or protected them, or both. Local inhabitants of Shala claim that their ancestors arrived as refugees, seeking to escape Ottoman conquest and forced religious conversion elsewhere. We have no reason to doubt these origin stories, but as described above, we believe the foundation and evolution of northern Albania’s tribal societies were subject to more complex processes of cause and eff ect. Shala was isolated, and its inhabitants may have negotiated their peripherality in order to avoid formal incorporation by the Ottoman state, but still they were aff ected by changes in the outside, imperial world. We have argued, for example, that immigration to the mountains was likely driven also by changes in land tenure on the plains. Increases in population and population pressure were met with an intensifi ca- tion of agricultural production, including terracing and irrigation. It is also no accident that New World crops such as maize, beans, and squash were intro- duced to Albania sometime during this period, allowing much larger crop yields (Andrews 1993). Population growth stimulated formation of the tribal system as well as systems of oral customary law and blood feud. Th ere are several key assumptions in the above sketch that deserve further discussion and are subject to investigation by archaeological survey, as we have defi ned it. Our model assumes that populations in Shala grew and that popula- tion pressure was the result. Beginning with Malthus (1803, 1830), most scholars who study mountain eco-systems have asserted that their carrying capacity is rather low and that mountain economies are particularly prone to collapse (e.g. Plate 6 – Communist-Era Plaque, Th eth, Northern Albania Robert Schon & Michael L. Galaty254 Diachronic Frontiers  McNeill 1992: 2–7). Consequently, many mountain societies carefully regulate marriage, birth, and immigration rates. Emigration from mountain to plain may also serve to relieve population pressure. Whereas these strategies have been well documented for the Medieval-Modern period in the European Alps (e.g., Viazzo 1989), Mediterranean mountain regions have received far less attention (McNeill 1992 is a noteworthy exception). Most scholars working in the Alps argue further that mountain societies depended on isolation as a means of buff ering and limiting population growth (e.g. Netting 1981). Alpine anthropologists applied to the Alpine situation the concept of the ‘closed corporate community’: small, endogamous villages of small, economically and politically independent nuclear families that closely regulated rules regarding marriage, land tenure, and inheritance. Immigration and emigration were limited. Th is view of Alpine communities was challenged by Cole and Wolf (1999 [1974]), who argued that in fact, historically most Alpine communities have been ‘open’ communities, the frontier reserve from which low-altitude urban imperial cores drew surplus people and products. Th us, the real key to understanding mountain demography was not to track the degree to which mountain communities were isolated and isolationist, but rather to understand how the shifting frontier situation aff ected the movements of indi- viduals in and out of the mountains. Cole and Wolf (1999) therefore view migra- tion as a primary release valve limiting over-population in mountain valleys. Recent scholarship shows that migration was one possible strategy for limiting population in the Alps, but that the migration rate varied through time from village to village (Viazzo 1989). Mediterranean mountain societies, northern Albania included, diff er from the Alps in several important ways. Northern Albanian family structure is dominated by the so-called ‘root’ or ‘complex, joint’ family (as opposed to the ‘stem’ family common in the Alps) (see Gruber and Pichler 2002), in which sev- eral generations live together in one large house and share all proceeds of their work (the so-called ‘zadruga’; Burns 1976). Th e land is owned by the patriarch (zot i shpi) and is divided between sons upon his death or retirement. Th ere are no restrictions on marriage and birth and all men are allowed and encouraged to marry and have as many children as possible. Women of the family marry out, and wives are brought in from other, non-related clans. Several of the main population checks employed in the Alps do not exist therefore in northern Albania, and there are two possible means whereby population was controlled: emigration and blood feud. Blood feud must have had a tremendous eff ect on northern Albanian popu- lations during some periods. Catholic Church documents indicate that in the period 1901–1905, the male death rate from feud in Shala stood at 26 (from Nopsca 1925 cited in Coon 1950: 27; additional statistics in Whitaker 1968: 272– 274). Feud was also the primary cause for emigration. Men would have fl ed the mountains not to marry, as was the case in the Alps, but to escape feuds. Th us, we need archaeological means of tracking not just population change, but feud- ing and emigration as well. Christopher Boehm (1983, 1984a, 1984b) came to many similar conclusions about the Montenegrin tribal zone, which is in the same mountainous region as the northern Albanian tribal zone. As mentioned above, our application of the ‘refuge area’ hypothesis to Albania is drawn from Boehm’s work. Boehm (1984b: 26) implies that Montenegrin and Albanian tribal systems are simi- lar due to parallel cultural evolution. We fi nd this argument very diffi cult to accept given that the two cultures are nearly identical in all respects. Rather, we would argue that the two are similar because they share a common ancestral culture; whether Slavic or Albano-Illyrian is unclear. At some point the region was divided along a linguistic/ethnic/religious frontier (the Montenegrins are Orthodox Christian). Given that the Slavic migration began in the 6t century ad, this frontier was perhaps the fi rst to directly aff ect Shala and may have resulted from eff orts on the part of the Orthodox and Catholic churches to control the region, one of the earliest bastions of Christianity in Europe. We might also implicate the Byzantine and Venetian states, though the record of their impact in the tribal zone is less evident than that of the churches. Th is ‘ethnic frontier’ has continued to aff ect the northern Albanians, Shala in particular, down to the present day. Th is was especially true after the forma- tion of the Montenegrin state in the early to mid–19t century. Th e fi rst thing the 19t–century ‘vladikas’ did when they assumed control of the country was to end blood feuds and raiding, thereby forming a tribal coalition that could eff ectively resist the Turks (Boehm 1984a: 12–14).⁸ Independence was achieved in 1878, but by then the tribal system had been completely disassembled. So, state formation in Montenegro happened at the expense of the Montenegrin tribes, and since state formation did not begin in Albania until 1912 (and was not really achieved until 1945 with installation of the Communist dictatorship), the Albanian tribal system survived into the 20t century. As a consequence of events in Montenegro, in the 19t century northern Albanian tribes found themselves situated fi rmly between two predatory, enemy ⁸. Th e Montenegrin vladikas were paramount chiefs/bishops elected by a council of tribesmen and ecclesiastical leaders; in  the position of vladika was secularized and changed to that of an hereditary monarch. Robert Schon & Michael L. Galaty256 Diachronic Frontiers  states, where before there had been only one. Th e ethnic frontier was trans- formed into a political frontier, and the Montenegrins became a much more serious threat. Th e northern Albanian tribes appear to have maintained their independence from the Ottomans over several centuries through a wide variety of strategies (all of which fi t nicely the expectations of ‘negotiated peripherality’ in a ‘refuge area’): they occasionally paid token taxes; sometimes agreed to fi ght alongside Turks, in particular if the enemy was Serb; and revolted when neces- sary, which typically entailed declaring a general besa. But with Montenegrin state formation and independence, Albanian tribes more often agreed to Ottoman demands, for money, troops, and peace. During this period bajraktars gained power at the expense of local chieftains and councils, throwing the tribal political system into disarray. Th e result was a spasm of violence (recorded by the Catholic church as a spike in death from feuding; see above), and a general weakening of the tribal defenses, at precisely the time the Albanian nation-state began to form. Th us, by the time of Zog, even truces between sworn enemy tribes, such as Shala and Shosh, could not save the tribal system from its dis- memberment at the hands of the Tirana Government. It was the frontier that created the northern Albanian tribesman, and the transformation of the fron- tier that in the end sealed his fate. In order to test the above model it is necessary to deploy an archaeological survey methodology that can collect data relating to population, feud, emigra- tion, ethnicity, and religion. Fortunately, our practice of archaeological survey is regional, interdisciplinary (combining traditional archaeological approaches, with ethnography and history), diachronic, and focused on the landscape and land use. Our methods are designed to locate artifacts, but also to identify and record architecture and oral and archival history. In two years of work, we have documented periods of village growth in Shala (primarily changes in the number of houses) that indicate increases in population at key moments of transition, always in response to changes in the frontier context.⁹ Th ere also may have been expansions in the terrace and irrigation systems at times of population growth, though this conclusion awaits scientifi c testing. We have also identifi ed changes in house architecture (mentioned above) that correspond to decreases in blood feud beginning in the Zogist period. Emigration is much more diffi cult to view in the material record, but we do have some evidence for extra-valley contacts, particularly in the form of imported, exotic pottery. Th is at least indicates that Shala was not completely closed to the outside and that products, as well as ⁹. A detailed description of the timing of these village expansions, written by Wayne Lee, is available in the fi nal report of the SVP’s  fi eld season. http://www.millsaps.edu/svp/SVP%202005%20Final%20Report.pdf. people, moved into and presumably out of the valley, possibly helping to blur ethnic and religious lines. We also think that the movement of people, whether immigration or emigration, directly aff ected Shala because the valley served as an attractive, alternative transportation route, in particular for individuals who preferred to remain hidden from imperial eyes, such as raiders, traders, priests, shepherds, and smugglers. Th is may have begun as early as the Bronze Age and continued into the Medieval period, but was certainly the case during Ottoman and later times. Th e Shala route was used into recent times by herders and traders head- ing north to the market at Gusinjë, making Th eth somewhat of a crossroads, the place to stop and rest before tackling the Qafe e Pejës, the pass over the mountains. Th e route north was technically closed after wwi when Gusinjë was awarded to Montenegro, and completely closed after wwii. According to our elderly informants, the closing of the border in 1945 marked the most mem- orable event of their lives, more memorable even than the beginning or end of Communism. conclusion: frontier life and archaeology While our fi eldwork is still in its early stages, a few conclusions may never- theless be drawn concerning the utility of our approach. Much of the previous narrative relies on ethnohistory, with material remains supplementing and fi ne- tuning the picture oral and written sources provide. A pottery scatter, a wood plaque, or a fortifi ed hideout are isolated fi nds that add color to a preexisting picture, but say little on their own. Th is may be expected as they all appear within the bounds of living villages—for which oral and written history are preserved. Th e strength of archaeological survey, however, lies in its ability to dis- cern patterns in the longue durée (Braudel 1972). To meet this goal we focus on changes in land use and settlement patterns from prehistory to the present over a wide area. As of yet, we have not sampled a suffi ciently large universe nor discovered an adequate number of settlements to form concrete inferences concerning long-term patterns of change in these realms. As we expand into adjacent valley systems, we anticipate that meaningful, comparative examples of land use and settlement will emerge. Such patterns will not only complement the image we get from historical sources, but will also add elements about which history is mute. http://www.millsaps.edu/svp/SVP%202005%20Final%20Report.pdf Robert Schon & Michael L. Galaty258 Diachronic Frontiers  list of figures Figure 1: Map of Albania showing location of the Shala Valley (M. L. Galaty) Figure 2: Map of tracts and structures surveyed by the Shala Valley Project in 2005 (M. L. Galaty) Figure 3: Map of tracts surveyed by the Shala Valley Project in 2006 (M. L. Galaty) Figure 4: Middle Paleolithic stone tools from SVP Site 001 (A. Bushati) Figure 5: Map of the hinterland of SVP Site 006 (M. L. Galaty and R. Schon) Figure 6: Map of the immediate vicinity of SVP Site 006 (M. L. Galaty and R. Schon) Figure 7: Map of structures 001–003 at SVP Site 006 showing location of exca- vation units and shovel tests (M. L. Galaty and R. Schon) Figure 8: Map of Dakaj (M. L. Galaty) list of plates Plate 1: View of the Ulaj, Kolaj, and Grunasi neighborhoods (mehalla) of Th eth village, looking south (A. C. Eek) Plate 2: Panoramic view of SVP Site 006 from above and to the east (M. L. Galaty) Plate 3: Panoramic view of structures 001–003 at SVP Site 006 from the east (M. L. Galaty) Plate 4: Dakaj (Site 007) from the north (M. L. Galaty) Plate 5: 1920s–era photograph of the bajraktar of Th eth, one Lulash, symbolically surrendering his gun to representatives of the Tirana Government (used with the permission of the Phototekë Marubi in Shkodër, Albania) Plate 6: Communist-era plaque memorializing the deaths of men who had revolted against Zog’s government in 1926 and were executed in 1927. Kol Marku is the second name on the list (M. L. Galaty) bibliography Allen, Mitchell J. . Contested Peripheries: Philistia in the Neo-Assyrian World- System. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms. Andrews, Jean. . “Diffusion of Mesoamerican Food Complex to Southeast Europe.” Geographical Review (): –. Baçe, Apollon. . “Fortifikimet e Antikitetit të Vonë në Vendin Tonë [Late Antique Fortifications in Albania].” Monumentet : –. Beltran, Gonzalo Aguirre. . Regions of Refuge. The Society for Applied Anthropology Monograph Series, no. . Washington D.C. Boehm, Christopher. . Montenegrin Social Organization and Values: Political Ethnography of a Refuge Area Tribal Adaptation. New York: AMS Press. _________. a. Blood Revenge: The Anthropology of Feuding in Montenegro and Other Tribal Societies. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. _________. b. “Mountain Refuge Area Adaptations.” In Cultural Adaptations to Mountain Environments, edited by Patricia D. Beaver and Burton L. Purrington. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia Press. Braudel, Fernand. . The Mediterranean and Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. London: Harper and Row. Burns, Robert, ed. . The Zadruga: Essays by Philip E. Mosely and Essays in His Honor. London: University of Notre Dame Press Chang, Claudia. . “Archaeological Landscapes: The Ethnoarchaeology of Pastoral Land Use in the Grevena Province of Greece.” In Space, Time, and Archaeological Landscapes, edited by Jacqueline Rossignol and LuAnn Wandsnider. New York: Plenum. Chang, Claudia, and Perry Tourtellotte. . “Ethnoarchaeological Survey of Pastoral Transhumance Sites in the Grevena Region, Greece.” Journal of Field Archaeology : –. Chase-Dunn, Christopher, and Thomas D. Hall. . Rise and Demise: Comparing World Systems. Boulder, CO: Westview. Cline, Eric H. . “‘Contested Peripheries’ in World-Systems Theory: Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley as a Test Case.” Journal of World-Systems Research (): –. http://www.jwsr.org Cole, John, and Eric R. Wolf. . The Hidden Frontier: Ecology and Ethnicity in an Alpine Valley (Second Edition). Berkeley: University of California Press. Coon, Carelton S. . The Mountain of Giants: A Racial and Cultural Study of the Northern Albanian Mountain Ghegs. Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Vol.  No. . Cambridge, MA. Durham, M. Edith. . The Struggle for Scutari (Turk, Slav, Albanian). London: E. Arnold. http://www.jwsr.org Robert Schon & Michael L. Galaty260 Diachronic Frontiers  Galaty, Michael L. . “Modeling the Formation and Evolution of an Illyrian Tribal System: Ethnographic and Archaeological Analogs.” In The Archaeology of Tribal Societies, edited by W. Parkinson. International Monographs in Prehistory, Archaeological Series . Ann Arbor, MI. Gjeçov, Shtjefën. . Kanuni i Lekë Dukag jinit [The Code of Lekë Dukagjini]. Translated by Leonard Fox. New York: Gjonlekaj Publishing. Gruber, Siegfried, and Robert Pichler. . “Household Structures in Albania in the Early t Century.” The History of the Family (): –. Hall, Thomas D. . “Incorporation in the World-System: Toward a Critique.” American Sociological Review : –. _________. . “The Effects of Incorporation into World Systems on Ethnic Processes: Lessons from the Ancient World for the Modern World.” International Political Science Review : –. _________. . “Frontiers, Ethnogenesis, and World-Systems: Rethinking the Theories.” In A World-Systems Reader: New Perspectives on Gender, Urbanism, Cultures, Indigenous Peoples, and Ecology, edited by Thomas D. Hall. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield. _________. . “Using Comparative Frontiers to Explore World-Systems Analysis in International Relations.” International Studies Perspectives (): –. Hall, Thomas D., ed. . A World-Systems Reader: New Perspectives on Gender, Urbanism, Cultures, Indigenous Peoples, and Ecology. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield. Halstead, Paul. . “Present to Past in the Pindhos: Diversification and Specialisation in Mountain Economies.” Rivista di Studi Liguri : –. Hammond, N. G. L. . Migrations and Invasions in Greece and Adjacent Areas. Park Ridge, NJ: Noyes Press. Hasluck, Margaret. . The Unwritten Law in Albania, edited by J. H. Hutton. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hoxha, Gëzim. . Scodra dhe Praevalis në Antikitetin e Vonë [Shkodra and Praevalis in Late Antiquity]. Shkodër: Camaj-Pipa. Kardulias, P. Nick. . “Preface.” In World Systems Theory in Practice: Leadership, Production, and Exchange, edited by P. Nick Kardulias. Boulder, CO: Rowman and Littlefield. Lane, Rose Wilder. . The Peaks of Shala. London: Harper-Collins. Lightfoot, Kent.  . “Culture Contact Studies: Redefining the Relationship between Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology.” American Antiquity : –. Lightfoot, Kent, and Antoinette Martinez. . “Frontiers and Boundaries in Archaeological Perspective.” Annual Review of Anthropology : –. Malthus, Thomas. . An Essay on the Principle of Population (Second Edition). London: J. Johnson. _________. . A Summary View of the Principle of Population. London: John Murray. McNeill, John R. . The Mountains of the Mediterranean World: An Environmental History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Netting, Robert McC. . Balancing on an Alp: Ecological Change and Continuity in a Swiss Mountain Community. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Nopsca, Franz Baron. . Albanien; Bauten, Trachten und Geräte Nordalbaniens. Berlin and Leipzig. Odile, Daniel. . “Montagnes Tribales et Coutumiers.” L’Ethnographie (): –. Palavestra, Aleksander. . “Prehistoric Trade and a Cultural Model for Princely Tombs in the Central Balkans.” In Europe in the First Millennium B.C., edited by K. Kristiansen and J. Jensen. Sheffield Archaeological Monographs . J.R. Collis Publications. Parker, Bradley J. . “Toward an Understanding of Borderland Processes.” American Antiquity : –. Përzhita, Luan. . “Kështjella të Periudhës Antike të Vonë Përgjatë Rrugës Lissus-Naissus [Castles of the Late Antique Period along the Lissus-Naissus Road].” Monumentet –: –. Përzhita, Luan, and Gëzim Hoxha. . Fortifikime të shekujve iv–vi në Dardaninë Perëndimore [Late Antique Castles of Western Dardania]. Tiranë: Albanian Institute of Archaeology. Pollo, Stefanaq, and Arben Puto. . The History of Albania: From Its Origins to the Present Day. London: Routledge and Keegan Paul. Schortman, Edward M., and Patricia A. Urban, eds. . Resources, Power, and Interregional Interaction. New York: Plenum. Sherratt, Andrew. . “‘Who are you calling peripheral?’ Dependence and Independence in European Prehistory.” In Trade and Exchange in Prehistoric Europe edited by C. Scarre and F. Healy. Oxford: Oxbow Books. Stein, Gil. . Re-thinking World-Systems: Diasporas, Colonies, and Interaction in Uruk Mesopotamia. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. _________. . “From Passive Periphery to Active Agents: Emerging Perspectives in the Archaeology of Interregional Interaction.” American Anthropologist : –. Turner, Frederick Jackson.  []. “The Significance of the Frontier in American History.” In The Frontier in American History, edited by F. J. Turner. New York: H. Holt and Company. Ulqini, Kahreman. . Bajraku ne Organization e Vjeter Shoqeror: Fund i Shek. xvii deri me  [The Bajrak in the Old Organization: From the t Century to ]. Tiranë. Viazzo, Pier Paolo. . Upland Communities: Environment, Population and Social Structure in the Alps since the Sixteenth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Vickers, Miranda. . The Albanians: A Modern History. London: I. B. Tauris. Wells, Peter S. . “Creating an Imperial Frontier: Archaeology of the Formation of Rome’s Danube Borderland.” Journal of Archaeological Research : –. Robert Schon & Michael L. Galaty262 Whitaker, Ian. . “Tribal Structure and National Politics in Albania, –.” In History and Social Anthropology, edited by I. Lewis. London: Tavistock Publications. _________. . “Familial Roles in the Extended Patrilineal Kin-Group in Northern Albania.” In Mediterranean Family Structures, edited by J. Peristiany. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Winnifrith, Tom. . Albania and the Ottoman Empire. In Perspectives on Albania, edited by T. Winnifrith. London: Palgrave McMillan. Wolf, Eric R. . Europe and the People Without History. Berkeley: University of California Press. Schon & Galaty list of figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Plate 1 Plate 2 Plate 3 Plate 4 Plate 5 Plate 6