Archaeology in the Western Balkans

THE HISTORY OF ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE WESTERN BALKANS, 2021

This book is a revised and updated version of the monograph Historija arheologije u novim zemljama Jugoistočne Evrope, originally published in Sarajevo in the Bosnian language. It is divided into chapters dedicated to the seven new countries created after the break-up of Yugoslavia and their archaeologies, with the final chapter reflecting the concept of ‘Yugoslav’ archaeology. Each chapter starts with a brief geographical, archaeological and historical introduction of the country in question. In the English edition, these parts are somewhat enlarged to help readers who are not well acquainted with the geography, archaeology and history of the region to contextualise the subject of study better. The main goal of the monograph is a reflection on the development of archaeology and the historical, social and cultural conditions of its knowledge.

L. Përzhita, I. Gjipali, G. Hoxha, B. Muka, Proceedings of the International Congress of Albanian Archaeological Studies. 65th Anniversary of Albanian Archaeology (21-22 November, Tirana 2013), Botimet Albanologjike, Tiranë 2014, 387-398.

Godišnjak/Jahrbuch Centar za balkanološka ispitivanja/Zentrum für Balkanforschungen Sarajevo, 2018

1988

Information on new titles is sent regularly on request, with no obligation to purchase. Volumes are distributed from the publisher. All B.A.R. prices are inclusive of postage by surface mail anywhere in the world.

This article critically explores the century-long history of research into a particular set of archaeological finds. The 'princely graves' -funerary assemblages dated to the early Iron Age (seventh to fifth centuries BC) containing, among other things, luxurious objects produced in Archaic Greek workshops -are known from various parts of temperate Europe, and were first recorded in the central Balkans region by the end of the nineteenth century. By their very nature, these finds pose several important theoretical and methodological problems, one of them being the need to bridge the divide between the procedures of prehistoric and classical archaeologies. The first attempts to account for these exceptional finds, in Europe as well as in the Balkans, were guided by the culture-historical procedure, typical of the archaeological investigation of the time. During the 1960s New Archaeology brought about the notion of chiefdom as a tool to account for the Iron Age societies. The concept was introduced into research on the central Balkan finds, proving successful in overcoming the shortcomings of the previous explanations, but at the same time creating new ones, encapsulated in the critique of the evolutionary approach. This review of research into the 'princely graves' concludes in proposing several new lines of inquiry, already introduced in the European archaeological theory: issues of group identity and individual actors, and phenomenological approaches to time and space.

Creation of the Late Antique World in the Balkans, Annales Balcanici 1, 2021

2014

Printed by Scanner Studio