The emergence of pins in the funerary record
since probably the end of the MBA, and their particularly frequent occurrence
from the end of 15th century in north and south Albania, is part of a generally
shared trend or fashion with an ancestry in the Central Europe, and encountered
during this period in Italy, Central Balkans, the Aegean and as far as Near East.
However, the earliest pins in Albania and most of the types developed during the
14 th
-13th centuries have a clear ancestry in Central Europe, a fact that supports a
northern influence for the emergence of this fashion. The actual evidence supports
stronger communication lines along the inner Balkan routes, such as the Drina
and Morava river valleys, or the Vardar valley further south. On the other hand,
there is also strong evidence to suggest a local development of these ?northern?
types of pins in Albania, which corresponds to the last stage of their use further
north. Furthermore, the development of distinct types between the northeast and
the southeast, suggests the presence of different manufacturing centers in these
two regions of the country where copper mines are also present. It also implies the
presence of closer regional preferences as it concerns the burial costume, which are
depended on the cultural orientations of the two regions. The southern region more
closely related to the western Macedonian territory, whereas the northeast region
more oriented towards the neighboring Kosovo and the regions further north in
the Central Balkans, along the Morava river valley. It is also important to note that
both areas, northeast Albania and southeast Albania/western Macedonia represent
a frontier zone, as each corresponds to the southernmost limit of the development
of the respective types of pins of ?northern origin?, few of which are encountered
only sporadically further south in the Aegean.
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