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Hmmmm. Nathan's response is one of the most unbalanced I have ever seen on Freerepublic. I read through most of the history and it is more accurate than most and includes what most Serb apologists leave out: that the Slavs were intruders into the Balkans who pushed out or enslaved the indigenous people.

It so happens that the modern-day Albanians have more in common with the Illyrians and Dardanians (the historical people of the Central/Western Balkans) than any other people currently there, excepting the Greeks. The toponyms (place names), culture, and lifestyle of true modern Albanians (read village dwellers, those not touched by the Ottoman incursion) match the historic (pre-Slavic invasion) residence of the Free people (Illyrians) and the Pear farmers (Dardanians) very closely. The unfortunate moslem aspect of Albanian history is a relatively late addition and as such, is a late source of Slav/Albanian aggression.

I agree that proper DNA analysis of the residents of the area would do more to end the Serb/Albanian homeland dispute more than anything else. It is interesting to note that Albanian, like Greek, is unique among the Indo-European languages in that it does not stem from another language within the family nor does it have linguistic posterity. It is also interesting to note that the current village dwellers deep in the mountains of Albania and Kosovo sport blond hair and blue eyes (similar to the Germanic tribes), unlike the Turkish-mixed stock found in the valley cities. These village people are also generally much shorter than the urban population and I suggest that they are the closest match to ancient Albanians.

The Serbs share Slavic ancestry with the Russians, Slovakians, Czechoslovakians, and many others whose ancestral homeland (as assessed by Slavic historians) is around the Baltic region, not the Balkans.

There is so much more to discuss, but I have to work too.

Cheers!