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(Ceka 2005, Frashëri 2005: 17) or Pelasgian tribes (cf. Bixhili 2004). They settled in the area
of today’s Himarë/Himara in the period of Mesolithic (8000 B.C.) (Gjipali 2004: 60-61).
Foreign scholars (Jacques 1995, Vickers 2001, Winnifrith 2002), whose arguments are based
neither on pro-Albanian, pro-Greek nor local positions, note that the demarcation line
between Illyrians and Epirotes is a matter of dispute. Their research points out that there are
not enough valid documents, dating from the early centuries, which would confirm the
assumptions that Albanians are Illyrian descendants (Jacques 1995: 30, 45). American
historian Miranda Vickers (2001:1) states in a similar manner that this assumption was
constituted as a historical fact during the time of the communist rule.
Contemporary scholars describe the number of tribes who at one time occupied much
of the Balkan peninsula as far north as the Danube as ‘Illyrian’. But whether Greeks or
Illyrians inhabited much of the southern region of present-day Albania, known as
Epirus, remains a highly controversial issue. Most probably, both Greeks and Illyrians
were originally interspersed in this area much as they are at the present day (ibid.).
British historian Winnifrith promotes a similar position, when he defines the language of the
Epirote tribes (2002: 47-48, see Chapter I, p. 27). While the scholars defending the local
position argue that the language of Epirote tribes used to be Greek, the scholars who argue for
the national position try to prove that it was Illyrian, from which Albanian originates.
The accounts presented above illustrate how the historiographers, despite their national and
local positions, define the inhabitants of Himarë/Himara area as unitary and “closed” entities
which belong either to Greek or Albanian nation-state “since ever”. In their works they often
equate the ancient tribes with the present nation-state. Thus for example, Rusha who
represents the local position and Ceka, Frashëri, and Bixhili who argue for the national, pro-
Albanian viewpoint, place the Chaonians on the map of the present Republic of Albania. They
consider the state-borders as the “natural” boundaries that are “there”. They take no notice of
the assumptions presented by Koçi who, for example, argues that in the period of Cainozoic
the geographical map of Himarë/Himara area was very different from the one existing today.
The local and national authors write about the ancient tribes as being a part of the evolutional
model, which develops from the tribal to the nation-states system.
In the paragraphs quoted above both Winnifrith and Vickers place Albania in the Balkans,
meant as a synonym for variety, mixture, ambiguity and contestations. Vickers for example
writes: “Contemporary scholars describe the number of tribes who at one time occupied much
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