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Cross-Cultural Ethnobiology in the Western Balkans: Medical Ethnobotany and Ethnozoology Among Albanians and Serbs in the Pešter Plateau, Sandžak, South-Western Serbia

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Abstract

An ethnobiological study concerning the medical ethnobotany and ethnozoology of two neighbouring communities of Serbians and Albanians living in the Pešter plateau (south-western Serbia) was conducted, the latter representing a diasporic community that immigrated to the area approximately three centuries ago. Sixty-two botanical taxa used in 129 plant-based remedies and 204 folk plant uses were recorded. In addition, 31 animal-derived remedies and 27 mineral or non-indigenous products were also documented. Approximately half of the recorded phytotherepeutical uses have been recorded for the first time in the ethnobotany of the Western Balkans and more than one-third of these uses have no correlation with Western evidence-based phytotherapy. Moreover, while both communities use approximately the same number of medicinal plants, two-thirds of the botanical taxa, but only one-third of plant folk medical uses are found in common among the two communities. These findings demonstrate that the two communities, although having lived in close proximity to each other during the past three centuries and in a relatively low biodiverse environment, have maintained or developed unique phytotherapeutical trajectories. The differences between the two folk medical biologies of these communities are reflective of the specific history of the Albanian diaspora, and of the complex processes of its cultural adaptation over the last three centuries.

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Acknowledgements

Special thanks are due to all the inhabitants of the visited communities, for their warm hospitality and for sharing their knowledge with the authors who collected the data in the field (AP and MEG); and to our translator and field assistant, Mezahir Haxhijaha, Rahovec, Kosovo, for his fantastic and unforgettable enthusiasm.

The authors wish to thank especially Dr. Fabio Firenzuoli and Dr. Elio Rossi (Regional Centre for Ethnomedicine, Region Tuscany, Firenze) and the Department of Health of the Region Tuscany, which made this project financially feasible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Gastronomic Sciences, Via Amedeo di Savoia 8, I-12060, Pollenzo, Bra, Italy

    Andrea Pieroni

  2. Department of History of Arts and Performing Arts, University of Florence, Via Gino Capponi 7-9, I-50121, Florence, Italy

    Maria Elena Giusti

  3. University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham St., Mail Slot 511, Little Rock, AR, 72205, USA

    Cassandra L. Quave

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  1. Andrea Pieroni
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Pieroni, A., Giusti, M.E. & Quave, C.L. Cross-Cultural Ethnobiology in the Western Balkans: Medical Ethnobotany and Ethnozoology Among Albanians and Serbs in the Pešter Plateau, Sandžak, South-Western Serbia. Hum Ecol 39, 333–349 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-011-9401-3

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