Are the Liburnians an Illyrian tribe? To answer this question we have to know something about them. Liburnians (lat.

Liburni) are an ancient maritime ethnic group which lived on the south-west of Croatia beside the north-east Adriatic between rivers Raa and Krka, in general on the Kvarner and north Dalmatia all the way to the Velebit coastline. To say that the Liburnians are an Illyrian tribe is not historically correct, there are many differences between Liburnians and the other nations in that area, the so called Illyrians, which clearly proves that they are different although they have some similarities. Those similarities are probably a product of living on the same area for a long period of time. Liburnians are in most of literature mentioned as Illyrians, it is considered that they belong to a wider group of communities which in the prehistorically and in the early ancient age inhibited the whole area of eastern coast of the Adriatic and the Dinarides on the inside all the way to todays Albania, Macedonia and Serbia on the east. Even some of the ancient writers call the inhabitants of that area, including the Liburnians, Illyrians. But that was also a geographical term, a name for the population of the Roman province Illyricum. Most of the ancient sources accurately distinguishes the national names of particular groups, as Dalmati, Ardians, Plerije, Disitijate, Encelejce, Taulante, Histri, Japodi and Liburnians. So for example a Roman historian Tit Lavije, author of History of Rome since the foundation, describes a sailing of a Roman navy squad 302.years BC, which entered the Adriatic sea at Brindisa, he says Italic coast without harbours on the left, and on the wright that there were Illyrians, Liburnians and Histri, savage tribes. As we can see from this writing the writer did not use the term Illyrians he clearly separated them as three separate groups.1 The term Illyrians as an ethnonym for the Balkan natives, who were conquered by the Romans, cannot be accepted not in a territorial neither in the chronological view in the sense of existence a unique nation.2 The Liburnians are commonly classified as Illyrians, but even although the material culture confirms that they have some common characteristics, most of them point to that the Liburnians were a nation that was very different from the Illyrians. The differences can be seen firstly in religion where we see that
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Roman ages, pg. 72-76 http://www.crsrv.org/it/istra_vrijeme/PDF/71-115.pdf Duje Rendi-Mioevi, The ancient heritage of the culture of the Yugoslav nations. Proceedings of the Zagreb Slavic school year, Zagreb, 1975., pg. 293
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even though the Liburnians were a polytheistic nation just as the surrounding contemporaries, their deity have only female names which is probably because of their heritage of matriarchy. The Liburnian society was organized on a mater linear system, whit what it was substantially distinguished from all the other patriarchal nations in the area. Then the important difference is seen in the type of graves that are clearly different than the graves of their neighbours. The skeletons of their dead were always laid lateral in a contorted-sitting position, and also in the graves of the Liburnian men there were never weapons as there were in the graves of the other so called Illyrians. Beside that in the classical Roman time over the graves of Liburnians were put special headstones so called cipussi which the other Illyrians don`t have. All that points to the individuality of the spiritual culture of the Liburnians in opposition to Illyrians.3 Also there are linguistic differences. Radoslav Katii is an academic who has proven the difference between the Illyrians, Liburnians, Japodi and other inhabitants of that area. Those linguistic differences are seen in names and the name system, which we have an example of on the grave headstones of Liburnians, that prove shows the difference in origin, and with that a different ethnical association.4 Beside these listed differences we also have the social structure difference. The Illyrians had a kingdom, while the Liburnians had some sort of a union of gradina (which was called dekapolije by the ancient authors). That union had a high level of autonomy for every part of it.5 Then art, the aspiration for the figurine expression, with the Liburnians it is expressed in a much bigger form than in other nations.6 The Liburnians were also different from their neighbour in the crafting of weapons they had long swords with lateral spiral antennas like the northern Germans.7

Kurili, Anamarija, Towards the Liburni. Studies on the Social History of the Early Roman Liburnia, Zadar, 2008, pg. 106 4 Katii, Radoslav (1976). Ancient Languages of the Balkans, Part One 5 Liburnians, http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liburni 6 Ivan Mui, Croatian history of the ninth century second revised edition, Split, 2007, pg.37 7 Liburnians, http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liburni
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And as the last difference are the funeral rituals. As it was established by Dragoslav Svejovi the funeral rituals point to clear separating to three big ethno-cultured territories that are: I. II. III. territory whose inhabitants mostly buries their dead territory with necropolises with burned dead territory on whom the dead are buried and burned with a closely equal frequency

As we see the nations of the roman Illyria all in their own cultural time were practicing special funeral rituals which confirmed their sense of belonging.8 In conclusion we have to say that calling the nations of the Illyria area Illyrians does not correspond to the historical truth. Amongst many tribes, which carried their own names, there was most likely a tribal community which carried the name Illyrians that existed in the south area. There is a possibility that this community, even before serious contact with the antique world expanded its name to the neighbouring tribe or group of tribes in that area adopted a common name for the whole group. With a careful analysis of intact archaeological material and literary sources we can reach all the obvious realizations that the Illyrians had never had a unique, in the spiritual sense consistent and mature culture, which would have so many of its elements that it could be distinguished as a whole among the different cultures of those times the way, for example, as it was the culture of Celts, the Etruscans, or Scythian.9

Dragoslav Srejovi, The attempt of ethnic and territorial demarcation of late Balkan tribes on the basis of their burial, Proceedings: burial of the Illyrians. SANU, Balkan Institute, vol. VIII., Department of Historical Sciences, vol. 2, Belgrade, 1979th, pg. 80
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A. Stipevic, Illyrians. School books, Zagreb, 1974., pg. 180 A. Stipevi, Arte degli illir. Edizioni Del Milione, Milano, 1963. , pg. 9 3

Literature Books: 1. A. Stipevi, Arte degli illir. Edizioni Del Milione, Milano, 1963. 2. A. Stipevi, Illyrians. School books, Zagreb, 1974. 3. Ivan Mui, Croatian history of the ninth century second revised edition, Split, 2007. 4. Katii, Radoslav, Ancient Languages of the Balkans, Part One, 1976. 5. Kurili, Anamarija, Towards the Liburni. Studies on the Social History of the Early Roman Liburnia, Zadar, 2008.

An article in the publication of scientific paper:

1. Dragoslav Srejovi, The attempt of ethnic and territorial demarcation of late Balkan tribes on the basis of their burial, Proceedings: burial of the Illyrians. SANU, Balkan Institute, vol. VIII. Department of Historical Sciences, vol. 2, Belgrade, 1979. 2. Duje Rendi-Mioevi, The ancient heritage of the culture of the Yugoslav nations. Proceedings of the Zagreb Slavic school year, Zagreb, 1975.

Websites: 1. Lexicographic Institute Miroslav Krlea http://www.crsrv.org/it/istra_vrijeme/PDF/71-115.pdf (07.01.2012) 2. http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liburni (10.01.2012)