Editing History of Albania (section)

== Prehistory ==
{{Main|Prehistoric Albania}}

=== Mesolithic & Neolithic ===
[[File:Shpella e zeze - Pellumbas.jpg|250x250px|thumb|right|The Cave of Pellumbas near [[Tirana]], used as a settlement for ancient humans during the [[Middle Paleolithic]] period.]]
The first traces of human presence in Albania, dating to the [[Middle Paleolithic]] and [[Upper Paleolithic]] eras, were found in the village of Xarrë, near [[Sarandë]] and [[Mount Dajt|Dajti]] near [[Tirana]].<ref name="Boardman">[https://books.google.com/books?id=vXljf8JqmkoC&pg=PA187 ''The Prehistory of the Balkans; and the Middle East and the Aegean world, tenth to eighth centuries B.C.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226083143/https://books.google.com/books?id=vXljf8JqmkoC&pg=PA187 |date=26 December 2022 }} John Boardman p.189–90</ref> The objects found in a cave near Xarrë include flint and jasper objects and fossilized animal bones, while those found at Mount Dajt comprise bone and stone tools similar to those of the [[Aurignacian culture]]. The Paleolithic finds of Albania show great similarities with objects of the same era found at Crvena Stijena in [[Montenegro]] and north-western [[Greece]].<ref name="Boardman" /> There are several [[archaeological site]]s in Albania that carry artifacts dating from the [[Neolithic Europe|Neolithic]] era, and they are dated between 6,000 and the end of the EBA. The most important are found in [[Maliq]], [[Gruemirë (settlement)|Gruemirë]], [[Malzi|Dushman (Dukagjin)]], on the [[Erzen]] river (close to [[Shijak]]), near [[Durrës]], [[Ziçisht]], [[Nepravishtë]], [[Finiq]], and [[Butrint]].<ref name="Adhami1958">{{cite book|author=S. Adhami|title=Monumente të kultures ne Shqiperi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0jCFmwEACAAJ|year=1958|publisher=Mihal Duri|page=15}}</ref>

=== Bronze Age ===
The next period in the prehistory of Albania coincides with the Indo-Europeanization of the Balkans, which involved [[Indo-European migrations|Pontic steppe migrations]] which brought the Indo-European languages in the region and the formation of the [[Paleo-Balkan languages|Paleo-Balkan]] peoples as the result of fusion between the Indo-European-speaking population and the Neolithic population. In Albania, consecutive movements from the northern parts of the region which became known as ''[[Illyria]]'' in the Iron Age had a significant impact in the formation of the new post-Indo-European migration population. The ancestral groups to Iron Age [[Illyrians]] are usually identified in Albania towards the end of the EBA with movements from north of Albania and are linked to the construction of [[tumuli]] burial  grounds of patrilineally organized clans.{{sfn|Kyle|Schepartz|Larsen|2016|p=1068}} Some of the first tumuli date to the 26th century BCE. These burial mounds belong to the southern expression of the Adriatic-Ljubljana culture (related to [[Cetina culture]]) which moved southwards along the Adriatic from the northern Balkans. The same community built similar mounds in Montenegro (Rakića Kuće) and northern Albania (Shtoj).{{sfn|Govedarica|2016|pp=22-25}}

In the late Bronze Age and early [[Iron Age]] a number of possible population movements occurred in the territories of modern Albania, for example the settlement of the [[Bryges]] in areas of southern Albania-northwestern Greece<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hammond |first=N.G.L. |journal=Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization |title=Ancient Epirus: Prehistory and Protohistory |publisher=Ekdotike Athenon |year=1997 |pages=34–45 |isbn=978-960-213-371-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UV1oAAAAMAAJ&q=%22These+Bryges+are+to+be+identified+with+the+carriers+of+the+Lausitz+culture+who+invaded+the+central+Balkans+in+late+LH+Ill+B+and+in+LH+Ill+C%2C+reaching+the+east+bank+of+the+lower+Axios+in+Macedonia+and+the+region+of+Elaphotopos%2C+Maza-raki+and+Kalpaki+in+central+Epirus%2C+where+they+began+to+drive+a+wedge+between+the+Dorians+of+Northern+Epirus+and+the+Mycenaean+peoples+of+southern+Epirus.+There+is+no+doubt+that+the+occupants+of+this+large+area+were+Greek-speakers.%22 |location=p. 38}}</ref> and [[Illyrians|Illyrian]] tribes into central Albania.<ref name="Hammond1993">Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond. [https://books.google.com/books?id=eW0iAQAAIAAJ&q=%22The+leading+dans+of+both+groups+buried+their+dead+under+a+circular+tumulus+of+soil+in+the+second+millennium+BC+The+main+reservoir+of+the+Greek+speakers+was+central+Albania+and+Epirus%2C+and+it+was+from+there+that+the+founders+of+Mycenaean+civilization+came+to+Mycenae%2C+c.+1600+BC%2C+and+burried+their+nobles+in+Grave+Circle+B.+Further+waves+of+immigrants+passing+through+and+from+Epirus+people+the+Greek+peninsula+and+islands+the+last+wave%2C+called+Dorians%2C+settling+from+1100+onwards.+The+lands+they+left+in+central+Albania+were+occupied+during+the+so-called+Dark+Age+%28U10-800BC%29+by+Illyrians%2C+whose+main+habitat+was+in+the+area+now+called+Bosnia%2C%22 Studies: Further studies on various topics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512123457/https://books.google.com/books?ei=SjxzTfeZL9Ku8QOl_LCvCA&ct=result&id=eW0iAQAAIAAJ&dq=reservoir%2Bgreek%2Bpeople%2Balbania&q=%22The+leading+dans+of+both+groups+buried+their+dead+under+a+circular+tumulus+of+soil+in+the+second+millennium+BC+The+main+reservoir+of+the+Greek+speakers+was+central+Albania+and+Epirus,+and+it+was+from+there+that+the+founders+of+Mycenaean+civilization+came+to+Mycenae,+c.+1600+BC,+and+burried+their+nobles+in+Grave+Circle+B.+Further+waves+of+immigrants+passing+through+and+from+Epirus+people+the+Greek+peninsula+and+islands+the+last+wave,+called+Dorians,+settling+from+1100+onwards.+The+lands+they+left+in+central+Albania+were+occupied+during+the+so-called+Dark+Age+(U10-800BC)+by+Illyrians,+whose+main+habitat+was+in+the+area+now+called+Bosnia,%22 |date=12 May 2016 }}. A.M. Hakkert, 1993, p. 231: "The leading dans of both groups buried their dead under a circular tumulus of soil in the second millennium BC The main reservoir of the Greek speakers was central Albania and Epirus, and it was from there that the founders of Mycenaean civilization came to Mycenae, c. 1600 BC, and buried their nobles in Grave Circle B. Further waves of immigrants passing through and from Epirus people the Greek peninsula and islands the last wave, called Dorians, settling from 1100 onwards. The lands they left in central Albania were occupied during the so-called Dark Age (U10-800BC) by Illyrians, whose main habitat was in the area now called Bosnia,"</ref> The latter derived from early an Indo-European presence in the western [[Balkan Peninsula]]. The movement of the Byrgian tribes can be assumed to coincide with the beginning Iron Age in the Balkans during the early 1st millennium BC.<ref>The later (The Peoples of Europe) by John Wilkes, {{ISBN|0-631-19807-5}}, 1996, page 39: "... the other hand, the beginnings of the Iron Age around 1000 BC is held to coincide with the formation of several different peoples in Albania and other countries. ..."</ref>