A headless senator, Hercules from a sewer tunnel, hobbits in the mountains, vampires among the rocks, and a sarcophagus in a bar were the finds this summer in the Republic of Bulgaria.
The last season of archaeological excavations in Bulgaria brought many archaeological finds. Scientists, volunteers and even a bar visitor discovered amazing artifacts. It should be said that in ancient times, the territory of today’s Bulgaria was inhabited by the Thracians, Greeks, Romans, Slavs, Ottomans and, of course, Bulgarians. All of them left their marks on the country’s culture and also on its treasures kept under surface. Bulgaria contains so many ‘subsoil treasures’ that they are literally, ‘underfoot’.
This can be easily seen when visiting archaeological excavation sites. For example, there are over a hundred historical sites not far from the ski resort town of Bansko that are marked on the Archaeological Map of Bulgaria. Ancient burial grounds, Thracian sanctuaries, old fortresses, and early Christian basilicas are among them. Tourists can visit many of them free of charge and ‘touch’ the history with their hands.
The year 2024 was marked by unique archaeological finds obtained during scheduled excavations in the ancient town of Heraclea Sintica (also known as Heraclea Strymonike) founded by the father of Alexander the Great (also called Alexander the Macedonian). Two large statues from the Roman period were discovered there. One of them, representing young God Hermes, was perfectly preserved, despite the fact that it had been in a sewer tunnel for 1,600 years. But the second statue, also hidden in a Roman sewer, turned out to be headless. Judging by the toga, it was the sculpture of a noble Roman, perhaps, a senator. Experts and researchers were very upset that the aristocrat had lost his head. But a few days later, it was found.
And at the very end of the archaeological season, a third full-size Roman sculpture was discovered, but in a different place - near ancient Odessos (or Odessus in Latin; it’s today’s Varna). A marble statue of a middle-aged man in an elegantly draped toga and holding a scroll in his hand was identified as a sculpture of Gaius Marios Hermogenes. This was evidenced by a well-preserved Greek inscription on the pedestal.
In general, this excavation season was very successful for Bulgarian archaeologists. In Perperikon (also called Perpericum) alone, an ancient rock town, they discovered the dwellings of hobbits and the graves of vampires. According to scientists, the quarter of small houses and narrow streets excavated in the southern part of Perperikon strongly resembles Hobbiton, the town of hobbits, from the cult film The Lord of the Rings. And the burial grounds found there with traces of a ritual action carried out to protect against vampires became a sensation. In more than a century of archaeological research, this was the third discovery of remains with signs of vampirism in the country.
But there are simply countless gold treasures in Bulgaria. They have been regularly found in the country since the mid-19th century. And any person could find them. For example, the famous Thracian treasure from the 9th century B.C. was discovered by two brothers, vine growers, in 1924. The gold vessels of unusually skillful workmanship were of purely mercenary interests to the rural workers. When they split their booty, some things were simply cut into pieces. Today, 13 surviving golden items from this treasure are a decoration of the museum in Sofia.
A similar case occurred in the town of Panagyurishte (also transliterated Panagjurište), in 1949. And again, the brothers, this time there were three of them, were digging clay used for manufacturing bricks. At a depth of 2 meters, their shovels ran into some old pots. Without thinking twice, the diggers threw the unnecessary old pots aside. The director of the local museum, who was passing by, became interested in the ‘wastes’. Now, the Thracian set dated to the 3rd century B.C., consisting of 9 gold vessels of amazing beauty, is displayed at the Plovdiv Museum and is its pride.
Today, dozens of beautiful Thracian treasures are kept in Bulgaria’s museums, not to mention individual finds discovered later on. It is impossible to even briefly describe what they are. However, one should mention the most ancient gold jewelry in Europe found in Bulgaria, and also by chance.
In 1972, an excavator operator noticed shiny objects in his shovel bucket during construction work in the city of Varna. Specialists who arrived at the site identified the finds as gold jewelry items. Upon closer examination, the jewelry pieces were dated to the 5th millennium (!) B.C. More ancient jewelry items have not yet been found in Europe. These artifacts are kept at the Varna Museum.
Another ancient exhibit discovered in a curious way was also handed to the museum this summer. In July 2024, at the height of the tourist season at the seaside, one of the visitors to a bar on the coast near Varna noticed an unusual stone bar counter. It was decorated with carved garlands, images of animals and bas-reliefs of battle axes - labryses – and looked more like a museum piece. The officials from the local authorities and the experts who arrived at the bar suspected that an ancient sarcophagus had been used as a bar counter.
The bar counter was delivered to the regional museum and was really identified as an ancient shell rock coffin. For several years, tourists raised their glasses to someone’s health siting at the 2nd-century Roman coffin, unaware that they were violating Bulgaria’s law. Bulgaria’s law enforcement agencies should find out how the ancient artifact ended up in the hands of resourceful businessmen. And Bulgarian archaeologists are starting a detailed study of the relics of antiquity discovered in a bar and preparing for the next season of archaeological excavations.
Photo courtesy of the author/ Photo of a sarcophagus was made by the Bulgarian Ministry of Internal Affairs
