Echoes from the Kolonja Plateau

The two sampled individuals come from discrete medieval contexts in southeastern and northeastern Albania: Shtikë on the Kolonja Plateau (Southeastern) and Kënetë in the Kukës District (Northeastern). Archaeological data indicate these are cemetery-related burials dated by associated stratigraphy and radiocarbon or typological parallels to the period 773–989 CE, a century of shifting political horizons in the western Balkans as Byzantine influence, local principalities, and migratory pressures met across mountain passes.

Landscape and material traces place these people on a stage shaped by valleys, transhumant routes, and fortified lowlands. Limited evidence suggests local continuity of settlement from late antiquity into the early medieval period, with adaptations in burial orientation and grave goods reflecting both local custom and wider Balkan practices. The cinematic silhouette of shepherds, farmers, and travelers moving between upland pastures and market towns is reconstructed from pottery scatters, simple metal objects, and the graves themselves.

Because we are working with only two genomes, any narrative of population movement, cultural ancestry, or social change must remain cautious. These individuals are touchstones — evocative glimpses rather than definitive chapters — that nonetheless anchor genetic data into named places and dates: Shtikë and Kënetë, 8th–10th centuries CE.

Genetic recovery from these two medieval burials is fragmentary but informative when treated with caution. Both individuals yielded mitochondrial DNA calls: one belongs to haplogroup H and the other to haplogroup U. Haplogroup H is widespread across Europe and often common in later prehistoric and historic populations; haplogroup U is an older maternal lineage with deep roots in European prehistory and is present among Mesolithic, Neolithic, and later groups. These maternal assignments suggest continuity of broadly European maternal lineages in medieval Albanian contexts.

No reliable Y-chromosome (paternal) haplogroup is reported for these samples, either because of poor preservation, insufficient coverage, or failed male-specific enrichments. That absence is important: without paternal markers we cannot assess male-line continuity, incoming male-mediated migration, or sex-biased admixture patterns.

Because the sample count is extremely low (n = 2), any broader population claims would be premature. However, the mtDNA types are consistent with regional medieval and modern Balkan diversity, and they fit within a pattern where maternal lineages often show persistence even as autosomal ancestry may shift. Future sampling across more cemeteries and secure archaeological contexts will be essential to test hypotheses about continuity, Slavic-era admixture, Byzantine ties, and micro-regional diversity in Medieval Albania.