Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Illyrians" in English language version.
Crossland posited a posited (partial) Hellenization of pre-classical Epirus, with Greek elites ruling over non-Greek populations; cf. Nilsson (1909). A very brief synopsis of older works and views is available in Kokoszko&Witczak (2009,112) who in turn also favor a 'Hellenization' scenario Nonetheless, such views, which rely largely on some subjective ancient testimonies, are no supported by the earliest (and not only) epigraphic evidence.
The nationalist interpretation of the cemeteries has, on the other hand, been roundly rejected by foreign scholars. Wilkes influential volume on the Illyrians described it as "a highly improbable reconstruction of Albanian history", and as noted above, I have published a number of trenchant critiques of it... of the earlier model.
All the cemeteries in south-eastern Albania have exactly the same shapes and incised decoration styles as Lako's ones in Saranda (especially his Nos. 23-27 in Table 3) but are dated later, that is to say between the 8th and 11th/12th centuries. Albanian archaeologists often connect these early medieval cemeteries to the so-called 'Komani-Kruja culture', and associate them with one particurlar ethnic group (regularly described as 'Slavic'). Recently, however, this view has been criticized by other scholars, who prefer to situate the 'Komani-Kruja culture' in a regionalized Romano-Byzantine or Christian context of various ethnic and social groups, adopting additional foreign elements(Popovic 1975:455-457; Popovic 1984: 214-243; Bowden 2003; 210-21; Curta 2006: 103-105). Consequently, we can conclude that the identification of the pottery finds from the Basilica excavation in Saranda with one period (the 6th and 7th centuries) and with one ethnic group (in this case the Slavs) is without doubt erroneous.
Das Albanische sei die Nachfolgesprache des Illyrischen: An der sprachlichen Realität des Illyrischen kann prinzipiell nicht gezweifelt werden. Auf welcher Basis beruht aber die heutige Kenntnis des Illyrischen? Nach moderner Erkenntnis ist das, was Illyrisch zu nennen ist, auf den geographischen Bereich der süddalmatischen Küste und ihrem Hinterland zu begrenzen (modernes Crna Gora, Nordalbanien und Kosovo/Kosova [antikes Dardanien]), wo nach älteren griechi-schen Autoren Stämme beheimatet waren, die gemeinhin illyrisch benannt wurden (Hei-ner EICHNER). Das Gebiet deckt sich mit einem auch relativ einheitlichen Namensgebiet (Radoslav KATIČIĆ) und es gibt es zum Teil archäologische Übereinstimmungen (Hermann PARZINGER). Ob diese Stämme auch eine sprachlicheEinheitgebildet haben, lässt sich nicht feststellen. Aus diesem Grund darf der Begriff 'Illyrer' und 'illyrisch' primär nur als Sammelbegriffverstanden werden
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)The nationalist interpretation of the cemeteries has, on the other hand, been roundly rejected by foreign scholars. Wilkes influential volume on the Illyrians described it as "a highly improbable reconstruction of Albanian history", and as noted above, I have published a number of trenchant critiques of it... of the earlier model.