10 archaeological finds that were made on the territory of Bulgaria and surprised scientists

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The splendor of Bulgarian archeology is often forgotten and only talks about Ancient Egypt and Greece. Nevertheless, the history of this Eastern Balkan state spans thousands of years, and several powerful civilizations once called this place their homeland. Today the Bulgarian land is simply teeming with ruins and treasures. Even in the depths of the Black Sea and on the islands of Bulgaria, there are many unusual finds.

1. Chariot with horses

In 2008, a group of archaeologists discovered a wooden chariot buried in ancient Thrace (modern-day Bulgaria). What is most curious, 2 horses were buried with her, which seemed to continue to drag the chariot even after death. The bones of a dog were also found nearby. The owner of the burial site showed up only a year later. Next to the chariot was a brick tomb, inside of which a man was buried, buried about 1800-2000 years ago.

Items found in the tomb (armor, gold rings and coins, and a silver bowl depicting Eros, the Greek god of love) suggested that the man was a Thracian nobleman or leader. This type of ancient burial is often found in Bulgaria. The tradition of elite burials originated 2,500 years ago and reached its peak in Roman times (2,100-1,500 years ago).

2. Mysterious arrow

Although Bulgaria is full of chariot burials, more mysterious graves are found from time to time. In 2017, museum workers unearthed an antique odeon in the city of Plovdiv, which was built here by the Romans for artistic performances. Among the ruins of this ancient Odeon, a team of archaeologists discovered a grave. Thanks to the ceramics found in it, the find was dated to the 11th - 12th centuries.

A man of unknown gender with an arrow in his chest was buried in the grave. Unfortunately, the bones have been intermingled for thousands of years. This made it difficult to determine what the arrow was doing among them. One theory says that the weapon was solemnly placed on the chest of the deceased (this was a famous ancient funeral rite). But it may be that the person was mortally wounded, and no one bothered to pull the arrow out before burial.

3. Last round

Today's livestock comes from dangerous wild bulls called "tours". These animals could weigh up to 1100 kilograms and had deadly horns. The last representative of this species died in Poland in 1627, and in Bulgaria the tours were considered extinct since the 12th century. In 2017, during excavations in the famous fortress Rusokastro, animal bones dating from the Middle Ages (XIII-XIV centuries) were found.

Among the remains of domestic and wild animals, the remains of the killed tours were found. By that time, the once abundant herds of wild tours, as scientists believed, existed only on the territory of Poland, Belarus and Lithuania. Thanks to the remains found at Rusokastro, Bulgaria can now be added to this list. Most likely, they were hunted en masse at that time.

4. Golden Mask

Like Egypt, Bulgaria has its own "Valley of the Kings". But instead of tombs filled with pharaohs, the Bulgarian landscape is replete with Thracian mounds. But in 2004, archaeologists made a discovery that they claim could rival the treasures of the Greek warrior-ruler Agamemnon and Tutankhamen. More precisely, with their funeral masks. During excavations in the valley, a team of scientists found a huge tomb. It was built from six stone slabs with a total weight of almost 12 tons.

A special stir was caused by a gold mask weighing 0, 45 kg, found inside. It was a unique find from the times of the Thracian culture, which flourished 2400 years ago. The burial mask and huge tomb show that the Greeks and Egyptians were clearly not the only great ancient civilizations. Indeed, during their heyday, the people of Thrace ruled modern Bulgaria and owned territories in Macedonia, Romania, Turkey and Greece.

5. Roman bath

In 2016, an archaeologist accidentally walked past a construction site in the city of Plovdiv in southern Bulgaria. She was horrified when she recognized the ancient tile in the middle of building rubble. In addition, the workers have already managed to destroy the ancient valuable wall. An attempt to inform the project customers about this was met with coolness. However, the municipality of Plovdiv has ordered an emergency archaeological excavation.

As a result, perhaps the best find of the year was discovered - the intact walls of the Roman thermae (public bath). A large structure with remarkable architecture was built in the second century AD, when the bulk of the historical monuments of Plovdiv were created (among them, in particular, the famous Theater of Antiquity and the Old Roman Stadium).

6. Two thousand year old ship

In 2000 years, any ship sunk in the ocean will be destroyed. But a miracle happened to one of the Roman ships. In the Black Sea near Bulgaria, among the wreckage of 60 ships of different eras, a very well-preserved Roman ship was found. On this ship, found on the Bulgarian shelf at a depth of about 2000 meters, even the mast, rudders and parts of the rigging have been preserved. Researchers even found a 2,000-year-old rope used to unload amphorae in the bow of the ship and cooking utensils.

The rarest find was a capstan, a deck device used to move heavy loads. Previously, it was only seen in ancient drawings. The reason why the ship, like most other ships, was perfectly "mothballed" is due to the fact that there is no oxygen in the water of the Black Sea. Deeper than 150 meters, organisms that normally feed on wood cannot survive.

7. The oldest city in Europe

Found in 2012 in northeastern Bulgaria, the oldest prehistoric city in Europe was home to salt specialists. Locals once boiled spring water to produce salt bricks. Since it was an extremely valuable commodity, salt mining could make the city a target for robbers.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that archaeologists have discovered an impressive stone wall around the settlement, built between 4700 and 4200 BC. The need to protect salt sources may have been the reason the city needed such tall stone fortifications. In any case, the wall is a unique feature of prehistoric southeastern Europe.

The city's population of about 350 people lived in two-story houses, used ritual pits and buried the dead in a small cemetery. Although the city existed 1,500 years before ancient Greek culture, it may have belonged to some kind of mining civilization. Bosnia and Romania have similar salt plots where miners have worked, also mining copper and gold in the Carpathian and Balkan Mountains.

8. Kazanlak treasures

Not all fantastic finds come from the bowels of the Earth, where they have rested for many centuries. In 2017, in the city of Kazanlak, the police stopped a car, the owner of which was behaving suspiciously. As it turned out later, thanks to this, valuable artifacts were saved, which would otherwise have disappeared into oblivion on the black market. The problem with looters has long been known in Bulgaria.

Roughly $ 1 billion worth of artifacts are removed from the country every year. A wooden box with 3 kilograms of gold and semi-precious objects (earrings, tiara, bracelet, coins and necklace), as well as ceramic shards and a tombstone were found in the car. Everything indicated that the looters had plundered the grave, but they refused to say where they found the collection. Therefore, archaeologists can only speculate about its origin.

9. Baptist bones

In 2010, a couple of archaeologists came across many hints that they had found the remains of John the Baptist (in the Bible, John baptized Jesus). First, archaeologists on the island of Sveti Ivan ("St. John") excavated an old Bulgarian church, and found a sarcophagus near a box with an inscription with the name of St. John and his holy day (June 24).

The coffin contained one knuckle of a finger, an arm bone, a tooth, a rib, and a piece of a skull. Two years after the discovery, tests were carried out that proved that the bones probably belonged to the same man. It was also possible to determine the date - the remains were buried at the beginning of the first century, that is, just when John lived.

Another analysis proved that the person was from the Middle East. However, accurate authentication of relics is not yet possible. Also, researchers do not understand why someone placed 3 animal bones next to human bones. Owned by a cow, horse and sheep, they were all the same age - 400 years older than human bones.

10. The Golden Book of the Etruscans

When an anonymous philanthropist donated the book to the National Historical Museum of Bulgaria, the scientists nearly fainted. It turned out to be not only the oldest book in the world with stitched pages, but it was completely made of gold. Even more mysterious, the book was written in a long-lost language. Its authors are the Etruscans, a mysterious civilization that still remains a mystery to scientists.

The book consists of only six pages, each of which is equivalent to 24 carats of the precious metal. The creator added illustrations of mermaids, harps, horsemen and soldiers. The story of the discovery of this book is no less mysterious than the Etruscans, which were exterminated by the Romans in the fourth century BC. The philanthropist claimed to have found her when he was young (at the time of the donation he was 87 years old).

While digging a canal in southwestern Bulgaria, a grave was discovered. The man noticed a unique gold artifact inside her and kept it for 60 years. Experts have confirmed the authenticity of the manuscript and determined that it was created 2,500 years ago. In other collections around the world, there are about 30 sheets that resemble books from the golden book, but none of them are stitched.