Southeastern Albania Research Articles

Aperçu des industries osseuses de l'habitat protohistorique lacustre de Sovjan (bassin de Korçë, Albanie sud-orientale)

AN OUTLINE OF THE BONE INDUSTRIES OF THE PROTOHISTORIC LACUSTRINE SETTLEMENT OF SOVJAN (KORÇE BASIN, SOUTH-EASTERN ALBANIA) Since 2004, technological analysis is applied to the bone tools, ornaments, and weapons from Sovjan, a Middle Bronze Age to Early Iron Age site in southeastern Albania. This material offers rare first hand information on craft production and technological change during this period. To date, three sites in northwestern Greece exhibit the closest parallels with Sovjan. Of these sites, only Sovjan allows us to study change in local production throughout the period from the Middle Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age.

Report of a Shigella Flexner Outbreak as a Direct Effect of the Contamination of Drinking Water in Southeastern Albania

P-230 Abstract: Shigellosis is endemic to Mediterranean countries. It is usually transmitted person to person, although cases of outbreaks due to food and water contaminations are also known. In many outbreaks the etiological agents are not usually identified by the laboratory analysis, the identification of water-borne sources is frequently based only on epidemiological evidence. This study presents the characteristics of a shigellosis outbreak resulting from the Shigella Flexner contamination of municipal water supply in a southeastern part of Albania, during December 2005. The identification of the etiological agent responsible for the outbreak was confirmed in the reference laboratory. The population was affected at a rate of 1.08%, without any difference between sexes; however children were mostly affected. The characteristic curve of outbreak, the distribution of cases, the age and gender, the hospitalization rates, the laboratory results as well as environmental conditions are described. The sudden start of outbreak resulted from specific environmental conditions of the drinking water source. During an upgrade of the drinking water distribution network two new uncontrolled water sources were used. The water collections were accidentally left uncovered and directly exposed to environmental pollution. The water sources and water collector was located in a populated rural area. Heavy rainfall was reported during the work and on the time period between the upgrade work and the outbreak. Ca hypochlorite chlorination was manually applied after the work but there was no disinfection during the outbreak. The highest bacteriological contamination (Escherichia Coli 32/l00 ml, Streptococcus Fecal 112/100ml) was found from the source to the distribution networks with residual chlorine in either very low levels or 0mg/l while ammonia was up to 0.11mg/l. Our results indicate that this outbreak shows a very strong correlation with water contamination from ground surface material, highlighting the importance of stricter environmental health control measures.

Effects of postsocialist reforms on land cover and land use in South-Eastern Albania

This paper examines effects of postsocialist reforms on land cover and land use through a case study from South-eastern Albania. The paper uses satellite data to measure changes in land cover between 1988 and 2003, draws on a village survey to assess changes in local land-use practices, and examines shifts in the determinants of land cover through seemingly unrelated regressions at the village level. The results show a high incidence of cropland abandonment especially in lower-lying areas closer to markets. Socio-economic factors have emerged as new determinants of spatial variation, suggesting a growing influence of market principles on land use.

Post-Communist Cross-Border Migration in South-Eastern Albania: Who Leaves? Who Stays Behind?

The opening-up of Albania to the outside world in the early 1990s brought about changes that have had a dramatic effect on society. Emigration has been a major consequence of the fall of communism. An estimated 600,000 or so Albanians are believed to have left the country, many of them permanently. Useful as such a piece of information is, it falls short of the data required to understand the motivations and micro-level consequences of cross-border migration, whether temporary or of a more permanent nature. Why do Albanians leave? Who leaves—and who stays behind? Are there any identifiable trends in the propensity to move, type of movement or the reason why people leave? Several studies have addressed issues such as these, but few (if any) have had the privilege of using survey data that are based on a statistically sound sampling frame. This paper, which is based on a survey conducted in the Korçë district in south-eastern Albania in late 2002 with regional planning ends in mind, adopts the perspective of the sending country and sets out to profile the emigrant from this particular part of the country. Covering 1,315 urban and rural households, a major feature of this survey is that it covers both migrant and non-migrant households. The data are analysed with a view to identifying the correlates of migration. As such, it also serves as a starting point for further work on other aspects of emigration.

The Aromânians: an ethnos and language with a 2000-year history

The Aromânians are one of the small ethnic groups in Bulgaria: an ancient Balkan people which, as a result of migration and the vicissitudes of history, dispersed across the Balkan Peninsula, creating diasporas in Macedonia, Greece, Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania. In the course of migration, the Aromânians preserved traditional trades, the majority employed in nomadic sheep and horse breeding, which eventually evolved into transhumant and Alpine. Another part practiced trade, crafts, industry and inn-keeping. All are Eastern Orthodox Christians. The Romanian origin of the Aromânian language is undisputed and universally acknowledged; however, scholars are divided over the question of the origins of the Aromânians. The existing theories may be classified in two groups: the first group, the Aromânians are descended from Roman colonists (legionnaires, veterans, administration) from the Balkan provinces of the Roman Empire; the second holds that they are Thracians, Illyrians, Paeonians, Epirotes and other Balkan peoples Romanized during the military campaign of the Roman consul, Paullus Aemilius, in 168 B.C.E., who routed the Macedonian phalanxes of the last Macedonian king, Perseus, in the battle at Pydna. Scholars also acknowledge another undisputable fact; at the time the Aromânians first attracted academic interest, in the late 18th and early 19th century, they were a relatively compact group in the mountainous regions of present-day northwestern Greece, southwestern Macedonia, Thessaly and Epirus. and southeastern Albania.

Iodine supplementation improves cognition in iodine-deficient schoolchildren in Albania: a randomized, controlled, double-blind study

Iodine is required for the production of thyroid hormones, which are necessary for normal brain development and cognition. Although several randomized trials examined the effect of iodine supplementation on cognitive performance in schoolchildren, the results were equivocal. We aimed to ascertain whether providing iodized oil to iodine-deficient children would affect their cognitive and motor performance. In a double-blind intervention trial, 10-12-y-old children (n = 310) in primary schools in rural southeastern Albania were randomly assigned to receive 400 mg I (as oral iodized oil) or placebo. We measured urinary iodine (UI), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), and total thyroxine (TT4) concentrations and thyroid gland volume (by ultrasound). The children were given a battery of 7 cognitive and motor tests, which included measures of information processing, working memory, visual problem solving, visual search, and fine motor skills. Thyroid ultrasound and the biochemical and psychological tests were repeated after 24 wk. At baseline, the children's median UI concentration was 43 microg/L; 87% were goitrous, and nearly one-third had low concentrations of circulating TT4. Treatment with iodine markedly improved iodine and thyroid status: at 24 wk, median UI in the treated group was 172 microg/L, mean TT4 was approximately 40% higher, and the prevalence of hypothyroxinemia was < 1%. In the placebo group after the intervention, these variables did not differ significantly from baseline. Compared with placebo, iodine treatment significantly improved performance on 4 of 7 tests: rapid target marking, symbol search, rapid object naming, and Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices (P < 0.0001). Information processing, fine motor skills, and visual problem solving are improved by iodine repletion in moderately iodine-deficient schoolchildren.

Isotope study of the connection of Ohrid and Prespa lakes

Two big lakes are located in southeastern Albania, near the border with Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Prespa Lake at elevation 850 m above sea level (a.s.l.), and Ohrid Lake at elevation 695 m a.s.l. Mali Thate – Galichica Mountain, which is constructed mainly of carbonate karstfied formations, separates them. In the Tushemisht – Sveti Naum sector of Ohrid Lake, situated on both sites of Albanian – FYROM border, big springs issue that are supposed to be fed by Prespa Lake by the underground karst flow Environmental isotope data of Deuterium and 18O have been used to identify the origin of the recharge of Tushemisht springs situated in Albanian territory. The results of this study indicate that 52 % of the mean discharge of Tushemisht springs is recharged from Prespa Lake, and 48 % of their discharge is recharged from the infiltration of the precipitation in Mali Thate – Galichica Mountain.

Effect of subsurface drainage on nutrient pollution of surface waters in south eastern Albania

Those who are familiar with salt problems in semi-arid regions are accustomed to thinking of managing water for its quality, but in areas where drainage water is primarily a result of excessive rainfall, drainage water management is a recently discovered tool. Thus, there are many unknowns in this area and much potential for improvements. Information is needed on the effects of subsurface drainage on the environment. A study to obtain information concerning the effect of subsurface drainage on nutrient pollution of surface waters was conducted from 1992–1995 in the Korça region, south-eastern Albania. The objectives of this study were: (a) to evaluate the effectiveness of subsurface drainage on reducing soil and nutrient erosion and surface run-off, and (b) to identify and evaluate the best water management practices to minimize off-site environmental impacts of drainage on outflow water quality in south-eastern Albania.

Neolithic cultivated plants from Albania

Macroremains of late Neolithic cultivated plants are reported from the archaeological site of Maliq, Korca District, south-eastern Albania. The material comprises einkorn (Triticum monococcum L.), emmer (Triticum dicoccon Schrank), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) and bitter vetch (Vicia ervilia (L.) Willd.). These are the first remains of cultivated plants described from an archaeological site in Albania.

Alexander's campaign in Illyria

The campaigns of Alexander in Asia have been extensively studied, but no one has given a detailed account of his campaign in Illyria. The reason is that for many years the interior of Albania has been less accessible than any part of Alexander's route in Asia. It was my own interest in Epirus and Macedonia and my travels in parts of south-eastern Albania which first led me to speculate on the location of Alexander's battle against Cleitus and Glaucias. I came then to the conclusion that the city of Pelion and the battle near it were to be placed by the upper Devoll in the plain of Poloskë. This conclusion was based on a study of the ancient literary evidence and generally on a second-hand knowledge of the terrain; for I had made only one trip and that by car from Florina to Bilisht in the plain of Poloskë and thence to Korcë (Koritsa). In September 1972 I was able to visit this plain through the kindness of the Albanian Government and of my Albanian colleagues. In Section A of this paper I describe the geographical features and the ancient remains in the relevant part of south-eastern Albania, and in Section B I try to reconstruct the campaign of Alexander in this region.