Varna necropolis description and photos - Bulgaria: Varna (Topic)

Varna necropolis description and photos - Bulgaria: Varna. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photos and a map showing the nearest significant objects.

Photo and description

The Varna necropolis is an ancient burial site accidentally discovered in the industrial zone of the city of Varna. Tellingly, the necropolis was discovered quite by accident, during work on laying a cable in 1972: one of the excavators noticed pieces of ceramics and gold jewelry in the bucket bowl. Employees of the Archaeological Museum of Varna, having learned about the finds, immediately began excavations. For ten years, excavations were carried out, the area of which now reaches 7500 square meters, the total number of graves is 294. However, this area is only two thirds of the supposed necropolis.

There were found 3000 pieces of gold, with a total weight of more than 6 kg, as well as at least 600 samples of ceramic products.

You can often hear that the Varna necropolis is also called Chalcolithic, dating to the end of the 5th millennium BC, and it is believed that it was used for about 200 years. Nevertheless, depending on the method of estimating the age, the spread in time comes out to be about 500 years. The antiquity of the finds in Varna can be compared in terms of cultural significance with the Egyptian and interfluvial finds. The Varna necropolis also gave the name to the culture of this area that existed before, it is called the culture of Varna.

During the excavations, scientists discovered several types of burials: two types with burials of bodies in different positions, and the third type - symbolic burials - graves with missing bodies, that is, cenotaphs.

The most richly decorated are the graves, where people are buried lying on their backs to their full height. It is assumed that symbolic burials were created due to the fact that it was not possible to find or deliver the body of a deceased person. Decorated copies of human heads made of clay were placed in such graves.

In addition to decorations, in each grave, scientists found samples of ceramics, as well as tools that the dead would need in the afterlife. Also among the finds are idols and talismans (anthropomorphic and zoomorphic).

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Topic: Varna necropolis description and photos - Bulgaria: Varna.