Kosovo

Kosovo became an independent state on 17 February 2009. After NATO intervention, Kosovo had been under UN protectorate (UNMIK) since June 1999. After independence, the European Union Rule of LawMission in Kosovo (EULEX) has provided assistance and support to the Kosovan authorities. Malcolm (1998) provides a comprehensive history of the years preceding this. Kosovo’s past, the war and the disruptions caused by it, made the recovery from the war to be

directed less toward the cultural heritage. In Kosovo, as a part of the former Yugoslavia and under Serbian control, physical anthropology has not been sufficiently institutionalized for decades. A few human remains studies were done, but they were mainly concentrated on Slavic mediaeval bones to prove the presence of Slavs in Kosovo. With independence, Kosovo will finally be able to use its rich cultural heritage and have the opportunity for further studies in physical anthropology. The first archaeological excavations in Kosovo were conducted by Austrian soldiers during

the First World War in an Illyrian cemetery in Neprebishte, the vicinity of Theranda/Suhareka. The Museum of Kosovo marked the beginning of institutional research of archaeological sites in 1949 (Shukriu 2004: 11). The number of archaeologically investigated sites and the number of human remains found since the first systematic archaeological excavations in 1951 are quite large (Table 21.1; Figure 21.1). Although human remains number more than 3000, studies in physical anthropology are still few. In the past, some studies were carried out, such as the craniometric analyses conducted by

Pittard (1920) on Balkan populations and by Ž. Gavrilovic´ (1964) on the mediaeval human remains from Artana (Novoberda). The mediaeval necropolis of Vermica near Prizren (Figure 21.2) yielded around 450 graves, excavated in 1974-75 by Albanian archaeologist Edi Shukriu and Serbian archaeologist Aleksandar Bacˇkalov, supervised by two Serbian archaeologists from Prishtina and Belgrade. In 1978 Hungarian anthropologist Janos Nemeskéri (Budapest) studied the human remains of the Vermica mediaeval cemetery. The study was organized by the Institute for the Protection of Monuments in the Municipality of Prizren (Instituti për Mbrojtjen e Monumenteve, Komuna e Prizrenit), under the direction of Muhamed Shukriu. The osteological methods employed in the study followed Lengyel (1963, 1968) and Acsádi and

Nemeskéri (1970). The Vermica osteological material also was submitted for analysis to the Albanian anthropologist Aleksandër Dhima, but no additional information is available. During this same time period, anthropologist Nemeskéri and archaeologist G. Gabricˇevic´ (Belgrade) excavated the grave of Ymer Prizren (1819-85, Head of the Albanian Prizren League) in Ulqin. The results of this work are found in several unpublished documents (Batalli 1978; Lengyel 1978; Nemeskéri 1978). A total of fifty skeletons from the site Mali Vogël (Mala Planina), part of the large urban

complex in Artana (Novoberda), were analysed and published by Ž. Gavrilovic´ (1964: 145-47). Archaeological excavations were made intermittently between 1952 and 1970, and more than 900 individual graves and family tombs in the cathedral church and churchyard were investigated. Only mediaeval graves were anthropologically analysed and published by Serbian anthropologist

Živko Mikic´ (1982, 1983, 1984a, 1984b, 1992, 1994, 1997, 2006). Due to Mikic´’s concentration on Slav human remains, 122 mediaeval skeletons found in Kosovo have been analysed. His anthropological analyses were done according to the method of E. Breitinger (1937). Twenty-one mediaeval graves were investigated at Ploshe in Gjonaj, near Prizren, in 1978,

with the anthropological analysis conducted in 1980 (Mikic´ 1984a: 115-22). The necropolis dated from the tenth to the thirteenth century. Seventy graves were archaeologically investigated at Kuline, near the village of Banje in Kolasin of Iber, in 1978, and anthropologically analysed (Mikic´ 1984b: 50-53). The necropolis dated to between the 13th and 18th centuries. Forty-two graves were archaeologically investigated at the Greek Cemetery site in Rezala

(Kolashin) in 1978 and anthropologically analysed (Mikic´ 1984b: 45-49). The necropolis dated between the 13th and 17th centuries. Fifty-eight sepulchral features with 59 skeletons were found at Breg in Matiçan, near Prishtina. One hundred and twelve graves were excavated between 1969 and 1973 by Vojislav S. Jovanovic´ (1988: 17). The necropolis dated from the ninth to the eleventh century. The human remains and artefacts are held at the Museum of Kosovo (Muzeu i Kosovës),

National Museum (Narodni Muzej) in Belgrade, the Institute for Protection of Monuments of

Table 21.1 Archaeological sites in Kosovo where human remains have been found

Bronze Age Inhumations

Iron Age Tumulusnecropoli

Iron Age Urn graves

Roman and Early Byzantine period Necropoli

Mediaeval period

Bernica Baja e Pejes Bernica Gjonaj Artana (Novoberdo) Grashtica Llashtica (Vllashtica) Grashtica Gjytet (Dubovc) Graboc Perceta (Perceva) Komoran Gllamnik Kuline near Banje Qëndresan (Gllareva) Moglica Karagac Matican Rugova Neprebishte Komoran Rezala Ujz Perceta (Perceva) Municipium DD Vermica

Porodime Tupec Rogova Romaja Shiroka

Ulpiana (Northern Necropolis, Fusha e Cerkezit tumulus, Cernica tumulus)

Kosovo (Instituti për Mbrojtjen e Monumenteve të Kosovës), the Institute for the Protection of Monuments of the Municipality of Prizren, and the Institute for the Protection of Monuments of the Municipality of Prishtina (Instituti për Mbrojtjen e Monumenteve – Komuna e Prishtinës). A special small building was built near the original site for long-term storage of the human remains from the Vermica necropolis.