Ethnoarchaeological Fieldwork in the Upper Vjosa Valley

The first season of ethnoarchaeological field research in the Upper Vjosa Valley was carried out in May 2016. It was a joint project of CeRPHAAL and the University of ‘Aleksander Xhuvani’ in Elbasan, aiming at recording local memories related to past ways of life and traditions of the rural communities living in the villages of the valley.

A particular focus of the research was the study of the Vlach (Aromanian) community, a minority group that have been historically present in the region. They are distinguished by their Romance language and their past ways of living, which for some were based around pastoral nomadism. The survey was focused on recording their past nomadic itineraries during their movement across the valley in search of the mountain summer pastures, as well as on documenting their temporary settlement location on the mountains of the area