Fort, Tower, or House? Building a Landscape of Settlement in the Shala Valley of High Albania
This article presents the results of archaeological, (ethno-)historic, and ethnographic research in the Shala River valley of northern Albania. We argue that through time and in different periods of occupation - Middle Palaeolithic, Iron Age, Late Medieval, and Modern - the valley's residents h...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of York
2010-01-01
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| Series: | Internet Archaeology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue27/galaty_index.html |
| _version_ | 1797369936864083968 |
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| author | Michael L. Galaty Wayne E. Lee Charles Watkinson Zamir Tafilica Ols Lafe |
| author_facet | Michael L. Galaty Wayne E. Lee Charles Watkinson Zamir Tafilica Ols Lafe |
| author_sort | Michael L. Galaty |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article presents the results of archaeological, (ethno-)historic, and ethnographic research in the Shala River valley of northern Albania. We argue that through time and in different periods of occupation - Middle Palaeolithic, Iron Age, Late Medieval, and Modern - the valley's residents have met similar challenges of extreme geography and a harsh environment differently, in particular by interacting in different ways and at different levels of intensity with the outside world. These shifts caused changes in population, settlement, and socio-political organisation that are reflected strongly in the local landscape and built environment. Population, settlement, and socio-political organisation did not hold constant, but were influenced by external forces, despite the seeming isolation of the valley and its occupants.
This article demonstrates how thin material and documentary records can be greatly enhanced through carefully integrated, interdisciplinary studies of settlement, home construction, and neighbourhood expansion and abandonment. We present select results drawn from an on-line database and GIS, along with photos, drawings, and audio recordings of transcribed interviews. An interactive system of blogs allows the authors to direct readers to additional sources of data, and readers to tell authors and other readers how they have accessed and displayed these data, and with what results. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T17:55:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5304a8df0c1d49689c3139db5ad1f6ee |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1363-5387 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T17:55:09Z |
| publishDate | 2010-01-01 |
| publisher | University of York |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Internet Archaeology |
| spelling | doaj.art-5304a8df0c1d49689c3139db5ad1f6ee2024-01-02T05:34:34ZengUniversity of YorkInternet Archaeology1363-53872010-01-012710.11141/ia.27.1 Fort, Tower, or House? Building a Landscape of Settlement in the Shala Valley of High AlbaniaMichael L. Galaty0Wayne E. Lee1Charles Watkinson2Zamir Tafilica3Ols Lafe4Millsaps CollegeUniversity of North CarolinaPurdue UniversityShkodra Historical MuseumAlbanian Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth, and SportsThis article presents the results of archaeological, (ethno-)historic, and ethnographic research in the Shala River valley of northern Albania. We argue that through time and in different periods of occupation - Middle Palaeolithic, Iron Age, Late Medieval, and Modern - the valley's residents have met similar challenges of extreme geography and a harsh environment differently, in particular by interacting in different ways and at different levels of intensity with the outside world. These shifts caused changes in population, settlement, and socio-political organisation that are reflected strongly in the local landscape and built environment. Population, settlement, and socio-political organisation did not hold constant, but were influenced by external forces, despite the seeming isolation of the valley and its occupants. This article demonstrates how thin material and documentary records can be greatly enhanced through carefully integrated, interdisciplinary studies of settlement, home construction, and neighbourhood expansion and abandonment. We present select results drawn from an on-line database and GIS, along with photos, drawings, and audio recordings of transcribed interviews. An interactive system of blogs allows the authors to direct readers to additional sources of data, and readers to tell authors and other readers how they have accessed and displayed these data, and with what results.http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue27/galaty_index.htmlarchaeologyAlbaniamountainslandscape archaeologyethnohistoryarchaeological surveyrefuge societiesisolationblood feudoral customary law codes |
| spellingShingle | Michael L. Galaty Wayne E. Lee Charles Watkinson Zamir Tafilica Ols Lafe Fort, Tower, or House? Building a Landscape of Settlement in the Shala Valley of High Albania Internet Archaeology archaeology Albania mountains landscape archaeology ethnohistory archaeological survey refuge societies isolation blood feud oral customary law codes |
| title | Fort, Tower, or House? Building a Landscape of Settlement in the Shala Valley of High Albania |
| title_full | Fort, Tower, or House? Building a Landscape of Settlement in the Shala Valley of High Albania |
| title_fullStr | Fort, Tower, or House? Building a Landscape of Settlement in the Shala Valley of High Albania |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fort, Tower, or House? Building a Landscape of Settlement in the Shala Valley of High Albania |
| title_short | Fort, Tower, or House? Building a Landscape of Settlement in the Shala Valley of High Albania |
| title_sort | fort tower or house building a landscape of settlement in the shala valley of high albania |
| topic | archaeology Albania mountains landscape archaeology ethnohistory archaeological survey refuge societies isolation blood feud oral customary law codes |
| url | http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue27/galaty_index.html |
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