Bulgarian e-Journal of Archaeology | Българско е-Списание за Археология
Not a member yet
264 research outputs found
Sort by
A newly-found inscribed funerary altar from the territory of Parthicopolis
Full text linkThe subject of this communication is a funerary altar discovered in 2022 during archaeological field survey in the Sandanski area. The monument was found at site 58, situated in the locality “Saint Dimitria” near the village of Leshnitsa, municipality of Sandanski. The site is a settlement from the Roman period (2nd–4th c. AD) and the Middle Ages (13th–14th c. AD), occupying a natural, flat floodplain terrace north of the Leshnishka River, covering an area of 5.8 decares. The monument is a funerary altar, possibly exhibiting traces of an unfinished verse-inscription in Greek, dated to the second half of the 2nd c. or the beginning of the 3rd c. AD. The Leshnitsa funerary altar joins the small group of funerary epigraphy from the Middle Strymon region, whence two other examples of the same type from nearby Heraclea Sintica are also dated to the second half of the 2nd c. or the beginning of the 3rd c. AD. The funerary altar from Leshnitsa constitutes the first such example from the territory of Parthicopolis, a Trajanic or early Hadrianic foundation of AD 117–120
Mesambria Pontica – coevolution of maritime community and coastal landscape
Full text linkThe study presents the changes in coastline, fortification and development of the coastal zone of the “city-peninsula” – the Classical and Hellenistic Mesambrian polis, the provincial-Roman peregrine city and the (early) Byzantine bipolar municipality.The archaeological, geomorphological and historical data document the dynamics of the regional geo- and hydrocratic relief-forming factors, which determine the formation of the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene terrace complex on/and around the Nesebar Peninsula, and their impact on the creation of the coastal zone. As a result of the negative geodynamic processes and, above all, the destructive sea abrasion and regional seismic activity, which have reworked the sea terrace, formed at 8–15 m and the shelf terrace up to the 4–5th isobath, the following sites and buildings have been brought down and “submerged” into the sea – most of the ancient and medieval fortifications, the northern nave of the basilica “The Holy Mother of God Eleusa”, the church of “St Protomartyr Stephen”, the temple of Zeus and Hera, an early Christian basilica, whose sacred space has been renewed by the church of “St George the Old”, and the ancient theatre.
In the second half of the 20th c., the Nesebar Peninsula has acquired the the specific appearance of partite bay-like ingressional shores with a length of 850 m, a width of 300 m and an area of about 24 ha. With the successful completion of the present-day coastal protection activities at the beginning of the 21st c., they areas were “regained”, incl. newly developed cca100 ha, falling within the boundaries and contact zone of the National Archaeological, and Architectural, and Urban Planning Reserve Nesebar – UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983
Late Neolithic Kachitsa (central northern Bulgaria): animal bones as raw material in the settlement’s economy
Full text linkThe importance of animal bone in prehistory was substantial as it was one of the main raw materials for producing a wide range of objects intended for various activities. This study presents the processed animal bones from the Late Neolithic settlement in the Kachitsa locality in Veliko Tarnovo. The Late Neolithic collection (Kachitsa A-B phase; Kachitsa B phase) consists of 70 artefacts made of bones, antlers and teeth. The objects were classified according to their morphological and technological characteristics into several groups, further divided into types, subtypes and variations. There are seven groups: pointed tools (n=21), cutting tools (n=5), burnishing tools (n=14), punching tools (n=5), multitools (n=1), decorative objects (n=19) and undefined objects (n=5). Use-wear traces show that the bone tools were used mainly for the processing of animal skins and plant products. The worked bone collection is dominated by domestic animals, mainly from large ruminant as cattle (Bos taurus), but hard animal tissue of medium sized species (sheep, goat, roe deer) and large wild animals (red deer) were also used. Preferred bones were the metapodia and the ribs, which are among the most suited for bone industry. The distribution of the types, the used raw materials, and the manufacturing techniques in the various phases of Kachitsa remain almost unchanged, with few exceptions. This trend demonstrates the role of strict tradition and the gradual introduction of some innovations in the bone industry of the settlement
Lead plaques of the so-called Danubian Riders from Serdica and the surrounding territory
Full text linkThe lead plaques of the so-called Danubian Riders significantly outnumber their stone counterparts. In the last fifteen years several new items have been discovered in Sofia and its surrounding territory. The reliefs have identical form and iconography which suggests their manufacturing in the same workshop that should be located in Serdica according to the recent finds. The archaeological context of the monuments provides good evidence for the date of the reliefs in the last quarter of the 3rd – beginning of the 4th c. AD. Several characteristics of the plaques suggest their use rather as phylacteries and personal amulets or in domestic shrines. The growing influence of Christianity most probably is the reason for discarding the discussed reliefs of the Danubian Riders around the middle of the 4th c. AD
Ранносредновековният железодобивен комплекс Брестница–Полето в Северозападна България: хронология и археометричен анализ (предварителни данни): The Early Medieval iron bloomery complex Brestnitsa–Poleto in north-western Bulgaria: chronology and archaeometric analysis (preliminary data)
No full textThe research subject is the newly discovered Early Medieval metallurgical complex Brestnitsa–Poleto in northwestern Bulgaria. The preliminary results of the conducted excavations and laboratory analyses presented here focus on the discovered bloomery structures and related finds in order to clarify the chronology and architecture of the features, as well as the technological processes.The dating of the archaeological structures derives from field observations of the horizontal stratigraphy, the characteristics of the ceramic complex, the metal finds and from the radiocarbon samples. To clarify the technology, many ore pieces, slags and blooms have been analysed. Basic analytical techniques include XRD, XRF and optical microscopy.The results of the research prove that there was a hitherto unknown bloomery centre with a settlement in the Poleto locality, which is the first fully studied Early Medieval iron making complex in the Balkan Peninsula
The necropolises of “Cherna–Sihleanu” type: are they biritual and what in fact does biritualism mean?
Full text linkThe paper reviews a group of five Early Medieval necropolises on the territories of modern-day Northeast Bulgaria and Southeast Romania, which demonstrate some intriguing features. Although the predominant burial rite is cremation, in some rare cases, when the deceased is a child, the remains are only inhumated, without incineration. A definition of site-type is attempted based on the evidence from the “Cherna–Sihleanu” necropolises and the five sites are distinguished from other synchronous biritual cemeteries in the area. The analysis of the burial ritual in those sites, as well as other biritual cemeteries poses the questions what does biritualism mean in general, when should a certain necropolis be defined as biritual and what kinds of biritualism are to be observed in the archaeological record. Some assumptions are made about the factors and conditions leading to the situation we see in the “Cherna–Sihleanu” group and examples are given of analogous sites, where an “atypical” biritualism is documented
Рецензия на статия: Stanimira Taneva. On the Middle Paleolithic Leaf Points from Bulgaria (South East Europe). In Dobrescu, R., Boroneanţ, A., Doboş, A. (eds) Scripta Praehistorica. Miscellanea in honorem Mariae Bitiri Dicata. MCA Serie Nouă, Supplementum: Paper review: Stanimira Taneva. On the Middle Paleolithic Leaf Points from Bulgaria (South East Europe). In Dobrescu, R., Boroneanţ, A., Doboş, A. (eds) Scripta Praehistorica. Miscellanea in honorem Mariae Bitiri Dicata. MCA Serie Nouă, Supplementum 1. 2021, 85–104. Târgovişte: Editura cetatea de scaun
No full textFrom the Neolithic to the end of Early Bronze Age: developments in the construction of entrance gates and city walls at settlements in Burdur (Turkey) and the surrounding region
Full text linkThe excavations at Hacılar carried out by James Mellaart in Burdur in the second half of the 1950s were a starting point for prehistoric archaeology in the Burdur–Antalya Region (Ancient Pisidia). Almost two decades later excavations took place at Kuruçay Höyük (1978–1988), followed by excavations at the Hacılar necropolis (1985-1986), excavations at Höyücek (1989–1992) and Bademağacı Höyük (1993–2010), and excavations at Hacılar Büyük Höyük that began in 2011 and are still in progress. The first examples of fortified settlements in the region can be traced back to the Early Neolithic Period. The centres mentioned in this article represent very significant stages in both the development of defence architecture in the region and also in our understanding of the process of urbanisation in Anatolia. The earliest defence models were later replaced by more complex systems, such as the casemate and saw-tooth defence system seen in the EBA I settlement at Hacılar Büyük Höyük, and the arrangement of adjacent megarons in a row for the purpose of defence in the EBA II settlement at Bademağacı. The first example of a ‘Gate Building’ model in Anatolia is the Eastern Gate in level 6A at Kuruçay, which consists of a gateway between two casemates/ towers. The development of this type of gate can be seen in the Western Gate and the Southern Gate at Hacılar Büyük Höyük
From utility to imperial propaganda: (Re)discovering a milestone of Constantine I from the vicinity of Bona Mansio and emporion Pistiros and its significance for the study of the ‘Via Diagonalis’ in the territory of Philippopolis
Full text linkThis article republishes a fragmentary milestone dedicated to Constantine I and his sons discovered by chance in 1964 in the locality “Kaldarmata” situated ca. 4 km south of the village of Vinogradets, Pazardzhik district. It also attempts to place it within its micro–regional context, as part of the larger network of Roman settlements serving the interregional traffic along the ‘Via Diagonalis’ in the Western Upper Thrace valley. For road stations operated not in isolation, but as a constituent part of larger organisms utilizing a wide range of resources on a micro–regional level. A new look at the milestone’s findspot, date, historical context and relation to other milestones found in the region is necessary because its place of discovery puts the actual route of the ‘Via Diagonalis’ in close proximity to the fortified settlement at Gradishteto near Asardere, situated ca. 2 km west of “Kaldarmata” and ca. 5 km east of the town of Vetren, commonly identified with Bona Mansio, which was the last road station in the territory of Philippopolis during Late Antiquity. The diachronic analysis of other milestones found in the region allows us to capture the milestone’s evolving function as a medium of communication between the imperial administration and its subjects within the 3rd and the 4th centuries AD; from a road accessory providing practical information to travellers into an administrative tool displaying imperial propaganda. Evidently, all the examples discussed in this article illustrate the existence of a milestone cluster associated with mansio Lissae/Bona Mansio, thereby showcasing the significance of the Western Upper Thrace Valley as an important hub along the ‘Via Diagonalis’