Bulgarian Archaeologists Find Golden Treasures in Ancient Thracian Tomb

Bulgarian archaeologists have discovered bracelets with snake heads, a tiara with animal motifs and a horse-head piece in a hoard of ancient golden artifacts that has been unearthed during excavations at a Thracian tomb in the north of country.


The artifacts have been dated to the end of the fourth or the beginning of the third century BC. They were found in the biggest of 150 ancient tombs of the Getae people, a Thracian tribe that was in contact with the Hellenistic world. The hoard also yielded a golden ring, 44 female figure depictions and 100 golden buttons.

"These are amazing findings from the apogee of the rule of the Getae," said Diana Gergova, head of the archaeologist team and a researcher of Thracian culture with the Sofia-based National Archaeology Institute. "From what we see up to now, the tomb may be linked with the first known Getic ruler, Cothelas."

The site is at the ancient Getic burial complex near the village of Sveshtari, about 250 miles north-east of Sofia. One of the tombs there, the Tomb of Sveshtari, is included in the Unesco world heritage list for its unique architectural decor showing half-human, half-plant female figures and painted murals.

The Thracians, ruled by a powerful warrior aristocracy wealthy for their gold treasures, inhabited an area extending over modern Romania and Bulgaria, northern Greece and the European part of Turkey from 4000BC.

They lived on the fringes of the Greek and Roman civilisations, often intermingling and clashing with the more advanced cultures until they were absorbed, in about the year 45, into the Roman empire. Archaeologists have discovered a large number of artefacts in Bulgaria's Thracian tombs in recent decades, providing most of what is known of their culture as they had no written language and left no enduring records.