In the first millennium BCE, the Illyrians settled in the area between Bosnia and central Albania. They left behind impressive archaeological remains, such as the magnificently decorated giant burial mounds of their princes. These archaeological finds are evidence of a warlike people of seafarers and farmers. Although there is no textual evidence of the Illyrian language, rudimentary features of it can be derived from names of persons, for example, and their presumed continuation in later times can be verified. In this well-founded study, Andreas Lippert and Joachim Matzinger present for the first time a systematic account of the Illyrians, taking into account both onomastic and also archaeological sources.

Prof. Andreas Lippert taught prehistory and historical archaeology at the University of Vienna. Dr. Joachim Matzinger is a researcher at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.