Find your treasures - Thracian treasures

IN THE LAND OF TREASURES In 1851, near the village Rozovets located in the Kazanlak valley, a certain grandfather Stoyan took out from a barrow a marble block. An opening gaped and precious antiques shined inside: even before Schliemann to excavate the Troy, the first Thracian treasure was discovered. It contained a gold wreath and things reminding those described by Homer in his epos: there, for the first time, the shining Thracian dinner sets and royal accoutrements were praised in song. In Bulgarian lands, the practice to lay precious metals in graves is older by three millennia than this was practiced in the times ... more

THE EARLIEST EUROPEAN WORKED GOLD The earliest European worked gold has been found in Bulgarian lands. The first gold anthropomorphic and zoomorphic applications, rings, ringlets and beads that people started to bury in the Mother-Earth are dated from before seven millennia. Beliefs and mythological cycles about anthropomorphic goddesses and gods took shape; at those times again and in the same lands scepters were made that symbolize the royal power. The brilliant pre-historic Chalkolithic cultures were wiped out in the 4th millennium BC by a complex of factors, among which the grand climatic changes stand out followed by the ... more

THE TREASURE OF VALCHITRAN This treasure was found quite accidentally in 1924, while farmers were doing a deep plough of a vineyard near the village Valchitran (District of Pleven). After vicissitudes (a part of the precious things that were found in the beginning were later cut into pieces during a sharing, while another part simply 'disappeared') only 13 vessels, all weighing a total of 12 425 g got into then People's Museum in Sofia: a big kantharos-like vessel, tri-section vessel, a big and three smaller chalices each one with a single handle, two big and five smaller disks. Apart from gold, electron (an alloy of go ... more

THE ODRYSES' ROYAL NECROPOLIS NEAR DOUVANLII The big ritual-funeral complex found near the village Douvanlii (District of Plovdiv) consists of 29 individual, well-seen in the countryside area barrows dated from 6th to 1st centuries BC. Of all these only five: Moushovitsa Mogila (i.e. 'barrow'), Koukova Mogila, Golyamata (Big) Mogila, Bashova Mogila and Arabadzhiyska Mogila - are rich of artifacts.Treasure objects found there are listed in an article by Prof. Bogdan Filov: the findings from the necropolis and the known in that time precious things from Ancient Thrace had allowed the great Bulgarian archaeologist to state in a special publ ... more

THE ROGOZEN TREASURE This treasure was found in the centre of the village Rogozen, District of Vratsa, in two separate parts and contains 108 phials, 54 pitchers, 2 cups and 1 scyphos. There total weight is 19.91 kg. One hundred and thirty-one of these vessels have gilt on them. There are many hypotheses on the origin, amassing and the reason to have this treasure buried where it was found. The nature of the treasure and the pattern of events as known to us allow for making the following definite observations to be made: - inscriptions on the neck place 13 of the vessels as property of the Odryses' King Kotys I ( ... more

THE TREASURE OF BOROVO This treasure was also found by accident. It was brought to light in 1974 when found during deep ploughing of one of the cultivated fields of the town Borovo. It consists of 5 silver vessels: a cup, rhyton-like pitcher, three rhytons with protomes of a horse, a bull and a winged sphinx. It has been assumed that this is only a part of the treasure as it was buried in 'two parts'. In any case, however, these vessels are part of Odryses' treasury plundered by Phillip II the Macedon, i.e. the finding from Borovo had also fallen in the hands of Triballs after they defeated Phillip II the Macedon in ... more

THE TREASURE OF LOUKOVIT This treasure was an accidental finding made in 1953 followed by two more findings, in 1955 and in 1986. In all, the treasure consists of 15 silver vessels, 23 applications and requisites for horse harness, along with more than 200 silver rings, hemispherical buttons, and tubules, little applications of human and animal little heads. Three iron reins with bronze teeth suggest the treasure contains parts of three sets of decorations for horse harness. Unfortunately, part of these sets has been hidden (or lost) after the treasure was first found in 1953.What impresses with some of the objects fr ... more

THE TREASURE OF LETNITSA The treasure of Letnitsa has been found accidentally in 1963. It was covered by a bronze cauldron and at a distance of 7 or 8 m to one side of it a horse's rein was found. Under the cauldron there were 19 traditional by size and about 30 lesser applications for horse's harness along with scores of beads. The applications belong to two separate suites of decorations for horse harness that has not reached our time in their entirety. Eight applications present the Thracian God-Horseman, clad in plated chain-mail and various scenes (in motion to the left or to the right). Their discovery proved t ... more

THE TREASURE FROM BOUKYOVTSI Several accidental findings from the barrows near the village Boukyovtsi are kept in the National Museum of Archaeology. Among them are some impressive things: 2 silver phials (of diameter 13 cm and 17.7 cm respectively); little silver pitcher decorated with flutes (8.3-cm high), a silver ornament with gilt consisting of chains, fibulas, little human heads (capitalum), rosettes, etc. of total weight 642.92 g; a forehead piece shaped like a falcon (3.8-cm high); an application in the shape of two connected lotus blossoms (2.8-cm high); silver goblet (gobele) with gilt (12.2-cm high).The fine go ... more

MOGILANSKA MOGILA This barrow was excavated in 1965 in the very centre of the town of Vratsa. From it comes one of the two, proved for certain, Thracian hearse from pre-Roman times. Three burial chambers have been revealed, which form the under-barrow funeral complex. The salvage manner in which the excavations were carried out and the lack of good photo-documentation renders analyses of the findings quite difficult. The most interesting is grave No. 2 where two horses were laid together with the chariot and separately there is a skeleton of another horse, a silver-plated rein and silver applications. Close by ... more

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