Vjosa Valley

The first phase of the ethnographic and ethno-archaeological study was extended in a series of villages of the Upper Vjosa Valley. A number of interviews were conducted with the elderly people of the valley aiming at collecting information on their past and current ways of life, focusing particularly on their productive and service activities, construction typologies, communication, economy, behaviors, etc. Also, a specific attention was dedicated to the study of the ethnical, cultural and linguistic Vlahos community, a nomadic minority group, which has been historically related to the area. 

CeRPHAAL preparing a film documentary on the Upper Vjosa Valley. The documentary will record all the various aspects of the activities of the MEMOLA project undertaken in this study area.

The University of Palermo and CeRPHAAL association started the preliminary soil surveys in the Upper Vjosa Valley. A first screening of soils variability was carried out, particularly focused around the sites of Lëmenjëza and Magjirica. A variety of soil types were observed, looking mainly at factors and processes of soil formation. We also identified the study area where the land evaluation will be performed.

The University of Palermo and the CeRPHAAL association started the land-use and biodiversity assessment in the traditional agroecosystems of the Upper Vjosa Valley. The focus of the study was the observation of current and historical land-use patterns of the territory. A floristic collection around the sites of Lëmenjëza, Magjirica and the surrounding areas was carried out. Also we began a survey of the ethno-varieties of vines traditionally cultivated in the Upper Vjosa Valley.

The traditional irrigation systems of the study area of the Upper Vjosa Valley. The study consisted on tracking, mapping and analyzing the historic hydraulic structures of the study area, whether these in use or abandoned. At the same time, in collaboration with local communities we discussed on finding possible ways for recovering the historic irrigation systems.

We started the hydraulic and land use studies in Upper Vjosa Valley carried out by CeRPHAAL team during May-June 2015.

Seminar The upper Vjosa Valley in the Dark Ages a lost territory of the Byzantine Empire by A. Miti, Researcher at CeRPHAAL.  The Seminar will be in the University of Granada at 12:30 Aula 22. 

This presentation examines the characteristics of the archaeological rural landscape of the territories of the Upper Vjosa Valley during the Early Middle Ages. It will introduce to the up to date results of the research, regarding the settlement identification and rural population characteristics over the Early Medieval, a period, commonly known as the “Dark Ages”, and during which the Mediterranean world was widely affected by large scale socio-economic, political, cultural and religious changes.

The research answer questions regarding settlement abandonment or continuity, the impact of the “barbarians” population in the territory, changes in the economic activities and ways of life, as well as it tries to observe the cultural legacy with the later Medieval settlement of the Valley. The study represents a multidisciplinary approach on the reconstruction of the historic landscape of the Upper Vjosa Valley, and also a methodological model applied in the study of similar territories of the Byzantine world.

Electronic journal "Water and landscapes". Article about the MEMOLA project in English and Spanish.  You can see the full article in this link http://www.memolaproject.eu/file/591  You will find the article about the project  in page146 .