Ethnoarchaeology in the Balkans. A View from Bulgaria

Abstract

This survey of ethnoarchaeological studies in the Balkans starts with an analysis of the possible reasons for the arrested development of ethnoarchaeology as practised in the Anglophone tradition throughout this part of Europe. It continues with a panorama of ethnoarchaeologically relevant case studies, making the point that reference to archival data from pre-modern ethnographic records and museum collections might be analysed much like archaeological data as a corrective factor for theoretical interpretative frameworks. This argument is justified by highlighting the achievements of Bulgarian ethnography and by the realization that the ethnographic record is not necessarily ahistorical, but is, rather, a current manifestation of the socio-cultural continuum. In the final section, it is argued that even though past ethnoarchaeologically relevant studies were mostly in the hands of ethnographers, future field studies will increasingly rely on archaeological observations due to the processes of depopulation of rural areas.