Po redaktohet Illyrians (paragraf)

== Archaeology ==
{{See also|List of settlements in Illyria}}
{{Further|Prehistoric Balkans}}

[[File:Byllis 2013 04.jpg|thumb|300px|Details of the late antique cathedral complex in [[Byllis]], [[Albania]] and the [[Adriatic sea]] in the distance.]][[File:Daorson 1.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Walls of ancient [[Daorson]], located at Ošanići near [[Stolac]] in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]].]]

In total, at least six material cultures have been described to have emerged in Illyrian territories. Based on existing archaeological finds, comparative archaeological and geographical definition about them has been difficult.{{sfn|Stipčević|1977|p=107}} Archaeogenetic studies have shown that a major Y-DNA haplogroup among Illyrians, J2b-L283 spread via [[Cetina culture]] across the eastern Adriatic from the [[Cetina]] valley in Croatia to Montenegro and northern Albania. The earliest archaeogenetic find related to Cetina in Albania is the [[Shkrel]] tumulus (19th century BCE). It is the oldest J2b-L283 find in the region historically known as [[Illyria]]. Freilich et al. (2021) determined that Cetina related samples from Veliki Vanik carry similar ancestry to a Copper Age sample from the site of [[Beli Manastir]]-Popova Zemlja (late [[Vučedol culture]]), eastern Croatia. The same autosomal profile persists in the Iron Age sample from Jazinka cave.{{sfn|Freilich|Ringbauer|Los|Novak|2021}} Cetina finds have been found in the western Adriatic since the second half of the thirds millenium in southern Italy. In Albania, new excavations show spread of Cetina culture in sites of central Albania (Blazi, Nezir, Keputa). Inland Cetina spread in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in particular Kotorac, a site near Sarajevo and contacts have been demonstrated with the [[Belotić Bela Crkva culture]].{{sfn|Gori|2018|p=201}} During the developed Middle Bronze Age, Belotić Bela Crkva which has been recognized as another Proto-Illyrian culture developed in northeastern Bosnia and western Serbia ([[Čačak]] area). Both inhumation and cremation have been observed in sites of this culture. Similar burial customs have been observed in the [[Glasinac]] plateau of eastern Bosnia, where the [[Glasinac-Mati culture]] first developed.{{sfn|Wilkes|1992|p=34}} 

During the 7th century BC, the beginning of the Iron Age, the Illyrians emerge as an ethnic group with a distinct culture and art form. Various Illyrian tribes appeared, under the influence of the Halstatt cultures from the north, and they organized their regional centers.{{sfn|Wilkes|1992|p=140}} The cult of the dead played an important role in the lives of the Illyrians, which is seen in their carefully made burials and burial ceremonies, as well as the richness of the burial sites. In the northern parts of the Balkans, there existed a long tradition of [[cremation]] and burial in shallow graves, while in the southern parts, the dead were buried in large stone, or earth [[tumuli]] (natively called ''gromile'') that in [[Herzegovina]] were reaching monumental sizes, more than 50 meters wide and 5 meters high. The ''Japodian tribe'' (found from [[Istria]] in [[Croatia]] to [[Bihać]] in [[Bosnia (region)|Bosnia]]) have had an affinity for decoration with heavy, oversized necklaces out of yellow, blue or white glass paste, and large bronze fibulas, as well as spiral bracelets, diadems and helmets out of bronze. {{citation needed|date=April 2014}} Small sculptures out of jade in form of archaic Ionian plastic are also characteristically Japodian. Numerous monumental sculptures are preserved, as well as walls of [[citadel]] ''Nezakcij'' near [[Pula]], one of numerous Istrian cities from [[Iron Age]]. Illyrian chiefs wore bronze torques around their necks much like the [[Celts]] did.<ref>{{harvnb|Wilkes|1992|p=233}}.</ref> The Illyrians were influenced by the Celts in many cultural and material aspects and some of them were [[Celticized]], especially the tribes in [[Dalmatia]]<ref>{{harvnb|Bunson|1995|p=202}}; {{harvnb|Hornblower|Spawforth|2003|p=426}}</ref> and the [[Pannonians]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hornblower|Spawforth|2003|p=1106}}</ref> In Slovenia, the [[Vače situla]] was discovered in 1882 and attributed to Illyrians. Prehistoric remains indicate no more than average height, male {{convert|165|cm|ftin|0|abbr=on}}, female {{convert|153|cm|ftin|0|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Wilkes|1992|p=219}}

=== Early Middle Ages ===

It is also evident that in a region which stretches from the southern Dalmatian coast, its hinterland, Montenegro, northern Albania up to Kosovo and [[Dardania (Roman province)|Dardania]], apart from a uniformity in onomastics there were also some archaeological similarities. However, it cannot be determined whether these tribes living there also formed a linguistic unity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Matzinger |first1=Joachim |title=Die albanische Autochthoniehypotheseaus der Sicht der Sprachwissenschaft |journal=Südosteuropa-Institut |date=2016 |url=https://www.albanologie.uni-muenchen.de/downloads/meldungen/gastvortrag_matzinger_nov_2016/muenchen_2_ethnogenese.pdf |access-date=9 August 2020 |quote=Das Albanische sei die Nachfolgesprache des Illyrischen: An der sprachlichen Realität des Illyrischen kann prinzipiell nicht gezweifelt werden. Auf welcher Basis beruht aber die heutige Kenntnis des Illyrischen? Nach moderner Erkenntnis ist das, was Illyrisch zu nennen ist, auf den geographischen Bereich der süddalmatischen Küste und ihrem Hinterland zu begrenzen (modernes Crna Gora, Nordalbanien und Kosovo/Kosova [antikes Dardanien]), wo nach älteren griechi-schen Autoren Stämme beheimatet waren,  die gemeinhin illyrisch benannt wurden  (Hei-ner EICHNER). Das Gebiet deckt sich mit einem auch relativ einheitlichen Namensgebiet (Radoslav KATIČIĆ) und es gibt es zum Teil archäologische Übereinstimmungen (Hermann PARZINGER). Ob diese Stämme auch eine sprachlicheEinheitgebildet haben, lässt sich nicht feststellen. Aus diesem Grund darf der Begriff ‘Illyrer’ und ‘illyrisch’ primär nur als Sammelbegriffverstanden werden}}</ref>

The [[Komani-Kruja culture]] is an archaeological culture attested from late antiquity to the Middle Ages in central and northern Albania, southern Montenegro and similar sites in the western parts of [[North Macedonia]]. It consists of settlements usually built below hillforts along the [[Lezhë]] ([[Praevalitana]])-[[Dardania (Roman province)|Dardania]] and [[Via Egnatia]] road networks which connected the Adriatic coastline with the central Balkan Roman provinces. Its [[type site]] is Komani and its fort on the nearby Dalmace hill in the Drin river valley. [[Kruja]] and Lezha represent significant sites of the culture. The population of Komani-Kruja represents a local, non-Slavic western Balkan people which was linked to the Roman Justinianic military system of forts. The development of Komani-Kruja is significant for the study of the transition between the [[classical antiquity]] population of Albania to the medieval Albanians who were attested in historical records in the 11th century. Within Albanian archaeology, based on the continuity of pre-Roman Illyrian forms in the production of several types of local objects found in graves, the population of Komani-Kruja is framed as a group which descended from the local Illyrians who "re-asserted their independence" from the Roman Empire after many centuries and formed the core of the later historical region of [[Arbanon]].{{sfn|Wilkes|1996|p=278}} Illyrian-Albanian links were the main focus of Albanian nationalism during the Communism period.<ref name="Curta2">{{cite journal |last1=Curta |first1=Florin |title=Seventh-Century Fibulae with Bent Stem in the Balkans |journal=Archaeologia Bulgarica |date=2013 |volume=17 |issue=1 |quote= In Albania, for a long time, the fibulae with bent stem have been regarded as the foremost element linking the Koman(i) culture to the Iron-Age civilization of the Illyrians, the main focus of Albanian nationalism during the Communist period|pages=49–70}}</ref> What was established in this early phase of research was that Komani-Kruja settlements represented a local, non-Slavic population which has been described as Romanized Illyrian, Latin-speaking or Latin-literate.<ref name="Wilkes278"/><ref name="Bowden61">{{harvnb|Bowden|2003|p=61}}</ref> This is corroborated by the absence of Slavic toponyms and survival of Latin ones in the Komani-Kruja area. In terms of historiography, the thesis of older Albanian archaeology is an untestable hypothesis as no historical sources exist which can link Komani-Kruja to the first definite attestation of medieval Albanians in the 11th century.<ref name="Wilkes278">{{harvnb|Wilkes|1996|p=278}}</ref><ref name="Bowden61"/> The nationalist interpretation of the Komani-Kruja cemeteries has been roundly rejected by non-Albanian scholars. [[John Wilkes (archaeologist)|John Wilkes]] has described it as "a highly improbable reconstruction of Albanian history". Some Albanian scholars even today have continued to espouse this model of continuity.<ref>{{cite journal |journal= Archeologia Medievale |last1=Bowden |first1=William |title= Conflicting ideologies and the archaeology of Early Medieval Albania  |date=2019 |publisher=All’Insegna del Giglio |page=47 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VcThDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA47 |language=en |issn = 0390-0592|quote=The nationalist interpretation of the cemeteries has, on the other hand, been roundly rejected by foreign scholars. Wilkes influential volume  on the Illyrians described it as "a highly improbable reconstruction of Albanian history", and as noted above, I have published a number of trenchant critiques of it... of the earlier model.}}</ref>

Limited excavations campaigns occurred until the 1990s. Objects from a vast area covering nearby regions the entire Byzantine Empire, the northern Balkans and Hungary and sea routes from Sicily to Crimea were found in Dalmace and other sites coming from many different production centres: local, Byzantine, Sicilian, Avar-Slavic, Hungarian, Crimean and even possibly Merovingian and Carolingian. Within Albanian archaeology, based on the continuity of pre-Roman Illyrian forms in the production of several types of local objects found in graves, the population of Komani-Kruja was framed as a group which descended from the local Illyrians who "re-asserted their independence" from the Roman Empire after many centuries and formed the core of the later historical region of [[Arbanon]].{{sfn|Wilkes|1996|p=278}} As research focused almost entirely on grave contexts and burial sites, settlements and living spaces were often ignored.{{sfn|Nallbani|2017|p=315}} Other views stressed that as an archaeological culture it shouldn't be connected to a single social or ethnic group but be contextualized in a broader Roman-Byzantine or Christian framework, nor should material finds be separated in ethnic categories as they can't be correlated to a specific culture. In this view, cemeteries from nearby regions which were classified as belonging to Slavic groups shouldn't be viewed as necessarily representing another people but as representations of class and other social factors as "ethnic identity was only one factor of varying importance".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vroom |first1=Joanita |editor-first1=John |editor-last1=Moreland |editor-first2= John |editor-last2= Mitchell |editor-first3= Bea |editor-last3= Leal |title=Encounters, Excavations and Argosies: Essays for Richard Hodges |chapter=Saranda in the waves of time |date=9 October 2017 |publisher=Archaeopress Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-1-78491-682-4 |page=249 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-lswEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA345 |language=en |quote=All the cemeteries in south-eastern Albania have exactly the same shapes and incised decoration styles as Lako's ones in Saranda (especially his Nos. 23-27 in Table 3) but are dated later, that is to say between the 8th and 11th/12th centuries. Albanian archaeologists often connect these early medieval cemeteries to the so-called 'Komani-Kruja culture', and associate them with one particurlar ethnic group (regularly described as 'Slavic'). Recently, however, this view has been criticized by other scholars, who prefer to situate the 'Komani-Kruja culture' in a regionalized Romano-Byzantine or Christian context of various ethnic and social groups, adopting additional foreign elements(Popovic 1975:455-457; Popovic 1984: 214-243; Bowden 2003; 210-21; Curta 2006: 103-105). Consequently, we can conclude that the identification of the pottery finds from the Basilica excavation in Saranda with one period (the 6th and 7th centuries) and with one ethnic group (in this case the Slavs) is without doubt erroneous.}}</ref> Yugoslav archaeology proposed an opposite narrative and tried to frame the population as Slavic, especially in the region of western Macedonia.{{sfn|Curta|2012|p=73}} Archaeological research has shown that these sites were not related to regions then inhabited by Slavs and even in regions like Macedonia, no Slavic settlements had been founded in the 7th century.<ref name="Curta73">{{harvnb|Curta|2012|pp=73–74|ts=:"Nonetheless, it is quite clear that despite claims to the contrary, burial assemblages associated with the so-called Komani culture (..) have nothing to do either with sixth- to seventh- century sites in the Lower Danube region known from written sources to have been inhabited by Slavs (..). In many respects, the communities who buried their dead in western Macedonia continued the traditions of Late Antiquity (..) There are of course new elements (..) But nothing indicates that those were communities  coming from beyond the border of the Empire. Judging from the archaeological evidence, no Slavs have settled in Macedonia during the seventh century.}}</ref>

Archaeologically, while it was considered possible and even likely that Komani-Kruja sites were used continuously from the 7th century onwards, it remained an untested hypothesis as research was still limited.<ref name="Bowden229">{{harvnb|Bowden|2004|p=229|ts=:The question of continuity remains unanswered. It is certainly possible and indeed likely that these sites remained occupied into the seventh century and beyond. (..) Perhaps most importantly the hilltop sites need to be examined in relation to earlier Roman settlement and land use patterns, from which they appear such a radical departure.}}</ref> Whether this population represented local continuity or arrived at an earlier period from a more northern location as the Slavs entered the Balkans remained unclear at the time but regardless of their ultimate geographical origins, these groups maintained Justinianic era cultural traditions of the 6th century possibly as a statement of their collective identity and derived their material cultural references from the Justinianic military system.<ref name="Curta2013a"/> In this context, they may have used burial customs as a means of reference to an "idealized image of the past Roman power".<ref name="Curta2013a">{{harvnb|Curta|2013|ts=:Whether refugees from the northern and central regions of the Balkans abandoned by the Roman army and administra- tion, or simply locals who refused to withdraw, those who after ca. 620 buried their dead in northern Albania, Montenegro, Macedonia, and the island of Corfu may have done so having in mind the idealized image of the past Roman power.}}</ref>

Research greatly expanded after 2009, and the first survey of Komani's topography was produced in 2014. Until then, except for the area of the cemetery, the size of the settlement and its extension remained unknown. In 2014, it was revealed that Komani occupied an area of more than 40 ha, a much larger territory than originally thought. Its oldest settlement phase dates to the Hellenistic era.{{sfn|Nallbani|2017|p=320}} Proper development began in late antiquity and continued well into the Middle Ages (13th-14th centuries). It indicates that Komani was a late Roman fort and an important trading node in the networks of Praevalitana and Dardania. Participation in trade networks of the eastern Mediterranean via sea routes seems to have been very limited even in nearby coastal territory in this era.{{sfn|Curta|2021|p=79}} The collapse of the Roman administration in the Balkans was followed by a broad demographic collapse with the exception of Komani-Kruja and neighbouring mountainous regions.{{sfn|Curta|2021|p=314}} In the Avar-Slavic raids, communities from present-day northern Albania and nearby areas clustered around hill sites for better protection as is the case of other areas like Lezha and Sarda. During the 7th century, as Byzantine authority was reestablished after the Avar-Slavic raids and the prosperity of the settlements increased, Komani saw an increase in population and a new elite began to take shape. Increase in population and wealth was marked by the establishment of new settlements and new churches in their vicinity. Komani formed a local network with Lezha and Kruja and in turn this network was integrated in the wider Byzantine Mediterranean world, maintained contacts with the northern Balkans and engaged in long-distance trade.{{sfn|Nallbani|2017|p=325}}  Winnifrith (2020) recently described this population as the survival of a "Latin-Illyrian" culture which emerged later in historical records as Albanians and [[Vlachs]]. In Winnifrith's view, the geographical conditions of northern Albania favored the continuation of the Albanian language in hilly and mountainous areas as opposed to lowland valleys.{{sfn|Winnifrith|2021|pp=98-99}} He adds that the language and religion of this culture remain uncertain. With bishops absent abroad, "the mountain flocks cannot have been too versed in theological or linguistic niceties".{{sfn|Winnifrith|2021|pp=98-99}}