Archaeological Wonders in Bulgaria: Hidden Treasure & The Oldest Town In Europe Discovered

There have been some remarkable archaeological finds recently in the eastern European nation of Bulgaria. One find earlier this year apparently confirmed the discovery of what is believed to be the oldest fortified town on the European continent, while the other out and out was the discovery of some remarkable treasure.

Oldest European Town

Archaeologists have unearthed what appears to be the oldest prehistoric town in Europe, dating back to possibly between 4,700 to 4,200 BC.

There are stone walls that have been unearthed by an archaeological team in Provadia-Solnitsata, a town in eastern Bulgaria.

Vasil Nikolov, a professor at Bulgaria's National  Institute of Archaeology, helped with the discovery, and said that the walls are between 3 meters (roughly 10 feet) high and 2 meters (6 1/2 feet) thick. They are believed to be the earliest, but also the most impressive and massive such fortifications from Europe's prehistoric days.

Also included in the discovery was an ancient production site for salt, which apparently gave the archaeologists clues as to why this town seemed so relatively wealthy for the time. They would boil brine from the salt springs in kilns, then baked it into bricks, which could then be utilized for trading goods.

The town housed about 350 people, it is believed.

Earlier this year, a small necropolis, or burial ground, had been found on the site. Now, this findings trumps everything, seemingly.

Ancient Treasure Discovery

Meanwhile, it was announced this past Thursday that in the biggest among ancient Thracian tombs (known as the Getae) in northern Bulgaria, near the village of present-day Sveshtari, archaeologists have found some golden pieces from an ancient treasure. These include a horse head piece (which resembles the knight in a game of chess, except it is all in gold), a tiara with animal motifs, and bracelets with snake heads, a golden ring, one hundred golden buttons, and 44 statues portraying females. They are believed to date back to either the beginning of the 4th century, or the end of the 3rd century, BCE.

The Thracians were a tribe ruled by a warrior aristocracy, and they enjoyed gold, obviously. Apparently, they seemed to have plenty of it, as well. They lived in an area where can be found present day Romania and Bulgaria, as well as parts of northern Greece and the European part of Turkey. They lived just outside of the ancient Greek and Roman empires, and often warred with both empires, before ultimately being absorbed into the Roman Empire around 45 AD.

Diane Gergova, who headed the team of archaeologists that made these discoveries, obviously had quite a bit to say about it. She called these "amazing findings from the apogee of the rule of the Getae."

"From what we see up to now," she said, "the tomb may be linked with the first known Getic ruler Cothelas."

Below are links to separate articles concerning both findings, and from which I used much of the material in writing this blog entry:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20156681


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204846304578095153497718528.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Travel/TravelStories/Europe-s-oldest-prehistoric-town-salt-site-found-in-Bulgaria/Article1-955234.aspx

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/bulgaria/9646541/Bulgaria-archaeologists-find-Europes-most-prehistoric-town-Provadia-Solnitsata.html

http://news.yahoo.com/ancient-thracian-gold-hoard-unearthed-bulgaria-133631604.html