Hellenistic Thrace: an interview with the Bulgarian archaeologist Georgi Kitov on the recent archaeological discoveries in the Valley of the Thracian Kings Laura Bumbalova

Engramma interviews the Bulgarian archaeologist Georgi Kitov, responsible for the recent archaeological finds in the Valley of the Thracian Kings in Bulgaria, in the area between Pavel Banija and Magliö, close to the city of Kazanlak, along the banks of the river Tundûa. In this area there are many tumuli that conceal temples, tombs and burial places of kings: it was here at the end of the 3rd Century and the beginning of the 4th Century BC that the capital city of King Sevte III, the chief of the Odrisi, the most important of Thracian tribes, was based.

The two tombs discovered and examined by Kitov in 2004 can be linked with the kings of this tribe. In one of them evidence of the Orphic burial of a Thracian king in the second half of the 5th Century BC can be found. The burial place contained several precious objects: a mask made of thick gold leaf, vessels made in gold, silver and bronze, a bronze cuirass, spear heads, iron swords, and bronze arrowheads. A splendid seal representing a resting athlete is made of gold. Also found were two amphorae and two large red-figure Greek vessels.

The inventory of the second tumulus excavated by Kitov is particularly significant for both the quantity and the quality of the over seventy objects discovered: weapons, symbols of power, vases, and equipment for the horses that were sacrificed in order to accompany the king in his tomb. The gold found in the chamber weighs over one kilo. Two silver vases with the name of Sevte engraved on them are particularly important. In this tomb the head of a bronze statue, an extraordinary example of ancient art was also found - a stylistic analysis confirms that it was made towards the end of the 4th Century BC.