Illyrian Legacy and the Neolithic Busha Cattle in Contemporary Times

Abstract

Legacies are often a slippery slope; especially when they reach as far back as to the Neolithic. In historical narratives, it is not seldom for them to end in some sort of causal explanation for contemporary conflicts, developments, or mores. Here, however, legacy will be understood as a practical arrangement of individuals and groups with their environment. In order to adapt, human society changes the ways it handles the world in which it lives, its technology, its institutions, and even itself. This change does not occur out of the blue, but bases on acquired experience, knowledge, as well as human and other capital. This experience-knowledge-capital base is going to be the legacy examined here. The changes it handles will be exemplified by the Busha.
Busha (south-slav: Buša/Буша) is a widespread, ancient cattle race in Southeast Europe. Individual calves and cows are small, but they are relatively uncomplicated concerning housing, especially suited for mountainous environments, and robust. This article will explore how Busha cattle were and continue to be used and maintained in the mountainous regions in Kosovo.