Language Bronze belt plaque of
Vače,
Slovenia of the
Hallstatt culture The
languages spoken by the
Illyrian tribes are an extinct and poorly attested
Indo-European language group, and it is not clear whether the languages belonged to the
centum or the
satem group. The Illyrians were subject to varying degrees of
Celticization,
Hellenization,
Romanization and later
Slavicization which possibly led to the extinction of their languages. In modern research, use of concepts like "Hellenization" and "Romanization" has declined as they have been criticized as simplistic notions which cannot describe the actual processes through which material development moved from the centres of the ancient Mediterranean to its periphery. The
Messapic language is often considered either a dialect or sister language of Illyrian. However, the testimonies of Illyrian are too fragmentary to allow any conclusions. An
extinct Indo-European language, Messapic was once spoken in
Apulia in the southeastern
Italian Peninsula by the three
Iapygian tribes of the region: the
Messapians, the
Daunii and the
Peucetii. Based on historical and archaeological data, it has been widely thought that Messapic reached Apulia through the Illyrian migrations across the Adriatic Sea. On both sides of the border region between southern Illyria and northern Epirus, the contact between the Illyrian and Greek languages produced an area of bilingualism between the two, although it is unclear how the impact of the one language to the other developed because of the scarcity of available archaeological material. However, this did not occur at the same level on both sides, with the Illyrians being more willing to adopt the more prestigious Greek language. Illyrians were exposed not only to Doric and
Epirote Greek but also to Attic-Ionic. Other scholars have linked them with the adjacent
Thracian language supposing an intermediate
convergence area or
dialect continuum, but this view is also not generally supported. All these languages were likely extinct by the 5th century AD although traditionally, the
Albanian language is identified as the descendant of Illyrian dialects that survived in remote areas of the Balkans during the
Middle Ages but evidence "is too meager and contradictory for us to know whether the term Illyrian even referred to a single language". The ancestor dialects of the Albanian language would have survived somewhere along the boundary of
Latin and
Ancient Greek linguistic influence, the
Jireček Line. There are various modern historians and linguists who believe that the modern Albanian language might have descended from a southern Illyrian dialect whereas an alternative hypothesis holds that Albanian was descended from the Thracian language.
Linguistic evidence and subgrouping Modern studies about Illyrian onomastics, the main field via which the Illyrians have been linguistically investigated as no written records have been found, began in the 1920s and sought to more accurately define Illyrian tribes, the commonalities, relations and differences between each other as they were conditioned by specific local cultural, ecological and economic factors, which further subdivided them into different groupings. This approach has led in contemporary research in the definition of three main onomastic provinces in which Illyrian personal names appear near exclusively in the archaeological material of each province. The southern Illyrian or south-eastern Dalmatian province was the area of the proper Illyrians (the core of which was the territory of
Illyrii proprie dicti of the classical authors, located in modern Albania) and includes most of
Albania,
Montenegro and their hinterlands. This area extended along the Adriatic coast from the
Aous valley The second onomastic province, the central Illyrian or middle Dalmatian-Pannonian province began to its north and covered a larger area than the southern province. It extended along the Adriatic coast between the
Krka and
Cetina rivers, covered much of
Bosnia (except for its northern regions), central Dalmatia (
Lika) and its hinterland in the central Balkans included western
Serbia and
Sandžak. The third onomastic province further to the north defined as North Adriatic area includes
Liburnia and the region of modern
Ljubljana in
Slovenia. It is part of a larger linguistic area different from Illyrian that also comprises
Venetic and its
Istrian variety. These areas are not strictly defined geographically as there was some overlap between them. The region of the
Dardani (modern Kosovo, parts of northern
North Macedonia, parts of eastern Serbia) saw the overlap of the southern Illyrian and Dalmatian onomastic provinces. Local Illyrian anthroponymy is also found in the area. In its onomastics, southern Illyrian (or south-east Dalmatian) has close relations with
Messapic. Most of these relations are shared with the central Dalmatian area. In older scholarship (Crossland (1982)), some
toponyms in central and northern Greece show phonetic characteristics that were thought to indicate that Illyrians or closely related peoples were settled in those regions before the introduction of the
Greek language. However, such views largely relied on subjective ancient testimonies and are not supported by the earliest evidence (epigraphic etc.).
Religion , 8th–5th century BC The Illyrians, as most ancient civilizations, were
polytheistic and worshipped many gods and deities developed of the powers of nature. The most numerous traces—still insufficiently studied—of
religious practices of the pre-Roman era are those relating to
religious symbolism. Symbols are depicted in every variety of ornament and reveal that the chief object of the prehistoric cult of the Illyrians was the
Sun, worshipped in a widespread and complex religious system. The solar deity was depicted as a
geometrical figure such as the
spiral, the concentric
circle and the
swastika, or as an
animal figure the likes of the
birds,
serpents and
horses. The symbols of water-fowl and horses were more common in the north, while the serpent was more common in the south. Illyrian deities were mentioned in inscriptions on
statues,
monuments, and
coins of the
Roman period, and some
interpreted by Ancient writers through
comparative religion. There appears to be no single most prominent god for all the
Illyrian tribes, and a number of deities evidently appear only in specific regions. In
Illyris,
Dei-pátrous was a god worshiped as the
Sky Father,
Prende was the love-goddess and the consort of the thunder-god
Perendi,
En or Enji was the fire-god, Jupiter Parthinus was a chief deity of the
Parthini, Redon was a tutelary deity of sailors appearing on many inscriptions in the coastal towns of
Lissus,
Daorson,
Scodra and
Dyrrhachium, while
Medaurus was the protector deity of
Risinium, with a monumental equestrian statue dominating the city from the acropolis. In
Dalmatia and
Pannonia one of the most popular ritual traditions during the Roman period was the cult of the Roman
tutelary deity of the wild, woods and fields
Silvanus, depicted with iconography of
Pan. The Roman deity of wine, fertility and freedom
Liber was worshipped with the attributes of Silvanus, and those of
Terminus, the god protector of boundaries. Tadenus was a Dalmatian deity bearing the identity or epithet of
Apollo in inscriptions found near the source of the Bosna river. The Delmatae also had Armatus as a war god in
Delminium. The Silvanae, a feminine plural of Silvanus, were featured on many dedications across Pannonia. In the hot springs of Topusko (
Pannonia Superior), sacrificial altars were dedicated to Vidasus and Thana (identified with
Silvanus and
Diana), whose names invariably stand side by side as companions. Aecorna or Arquornia was a lake or river tutelary goddess worshipped exclusively in the cities of
Nauportus and
Emona, where she was the most important deity next to
Jupiter. Laburus was also a local deity worshipped in Emona, perhaps a deity protecting the boatmen sailing. It seems that the Illyrians did not develop a uniform cosmology on which to center their religious practices. A number of Illyrian toponyms and anthroponyms derived from animal names and reflected the beliefs in animals as
mythological ancestors and protectors. The
serpent was one of the most important animal
totems. Illyrians believed in the force of
spells and the
evil eye, in the magic power of protective and beneficial
amulets which could avert the evil eye or the bad intentions of enemies. Human sacrifice also played a role in the lives of the Illyrians.
Arrian records the chieftain
Cleitus the Illyrian as sacrificing three boys, three girls and three rams just before his battle with
Alexander the Great. The most common type of burial among the
Iron Age Illyrians was
tumulus or mound burial. The kin of the first tumuli was buried around that, and the higher the status of those in these burials the higher the mound.
Archaeology has found many artifacts placed within these tumuli such as weapons, ornaments, garments and clay vessels. The rich spectrum in religious beliefs and burial rituals that emerged in Illyria, especially during the Roman period, may reflect the variation in cultural identities in this region. ==Archaeology==