Upland Rhodope Project


	Upland Rhodope Ethnoarchaeological Project


	Upland Rhodope Ethnoarchaeological Project (UREP) was initiated in 1985 by Dr. Nikos Efstratiou, archaeologist in the Museum of Komotini and later Associate Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology in the Department of Archaeology, University of Thessaloniki.




		A view of the Sarakini village and it’s surroundings


	The main area of study which lasted for a number of years was the Pomak village of Sarakini, in the Rhodope mountains and close to the Greek-Bulgarian border. Thrace, still remains today an ethnographically rich region of Europe where communities such as the moslem, slav-speaking minority group of the Pomaks can still be found living in, geographically and culturally, niche areas.




	A stone and wooden hut covered with branches and thatch




	Wooden huts and storehouses in the Rhodope mountains

The research team included trained archaeologists and social anthropologists as well as other specialists such as archaeobotanists, archaeozoologists, topographers, architects etc. The field research produced a number of inderisciplinary studies which covered a wide range of ethno-archaeological approaches (anthropological archaeology, experimental archaeology) as well as topics. From the study of the community΄s space arrangement and use, the subsistence strategies, agricultural and pastoral activities, storage and abandonment practices and economic choices to sociocultural issues such as the construction of ethnic identity.




	Recording post-frame animal pens in the Rhodope mountains




		Studying an abandoned stone- house in Sarakini


	Over the years UREP did include a number of smaller ethnoarchaeological projects which focused on specific research issues (environment, pastoralism, exploitation strategies) and carried out by specialists from Greece, Spain and France. As a result of this long ethnoarchaeological project the following studies have been published while others are are still pending.




		Scenes of everyday life in Sarakini

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