Bulgaria: Archaeologists Finally Put Date on Ancient Starosel Tomb

BalkanTravellers.com ^ | Tuesday, March 16, 2010 | unattributed (novinite.com)

[SunkenCiv]

A team of archaeologists from the Bulgarian National History Museum, with the help of a German lab, has finally managed to estimate the time of the construction of the largest underground temple on the Balkan Peninsula, the Thracian Starosel tomb to the fourth century BC. In the summer of 2009, the archaeological team, led by Dr. Ivan Hristov, took samples from a stake in the middle of the tomb where gifts to the Greek goddess of the hearth Hestia were laid... The sample underwent radio carbon dating analysis in Dr. Bernd Krommer's laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, which showed that the stake was burned in the period after 358 BC, when the temple was constructed, and the earth was heaped on top of it to form a burial mound. Based on the analysis of the lab results and events of the time, Dr. Hristov concluded that the temple in the village of Starosel, in the so-called Chetinyova Mound, and the nearby Thracian ruler's residence under Mount Kozi Gramadi were built during the reign of the Thracian King Amatokos II (359-351 BC) of the Thracian Odrysian state (fifth to third century BC). Another testament to this theory are the images of a labrys - a symmetrical double-headed axe, which were discovered on several items, including Thracian coins, around Starosel. The family coat of arms of King Amatokos was a labrys... As BalkanTravellers.com reported in 2008, the Starosel site was discovered and researched by prominent Bulgarian archaeologist Georgi Kitov, who died of a heart attack while excavating the site in September of that year.

[SunkenCiv]

[SunkenCiv]

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[Nam Vet]

Great stuff Civ. Thanks again for including me on your ping list.

Nam Vet

[nkycincinnatikid]

Always been the trouble with the Balkans of course, they created more history than they could consume.

[SunkenCiv]

My pleasure, and thanks for the kind remarks!

[SamiGirl]

Thank you for this post. Very interesting.

Regards

[SunkenCiv]

There have been a surprising (given the terrain) number of (known) invasions of the Balkans; the Romans under Trajan crossed the Danube and conquered Dacia, and grabbed a huge amount of loot in the process (gold mines I believe), the biggest jackpot they ever hit, and that was the financial peak of Imperial Rome. Other than that, it remained pretty quiet for a long while. Diocletian ended a long period of near-anarchy during the 3rd century, then set up a system of succession, built a self-sustaining miniature city / fortress to retire into, and retired to test his system. He also forced his eastern empire colleague to retire to make sure the system worked in the eastern division of the empire (Diocletian was the one who divided it formally). Anyway, Diocletian's retirement mansion can still be visited today, in Split.

[BILLNHILL MAKE ME ILL]

A team of archaeologists from the Bulgarian National History Museum, with the help of a German lab,...

Those are the smartest dogs I've ever seen.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks. The presence of the double-axe was pretty interesting.

The Quest for the origins of the ancient Thracians
by Ioannis Fidanakis
Wednesday, July 16, 2008

...the parallels between Thracian culture and Minoan, Mycenaean and Phrygian cultures. According to Alexander Fol, the concept of "Mycenaean Thrace" was first developed in 1973 in order to explain the relative cultural unity between the Thracians and the Mycenaeans. In 1984, the Fourth International Congress of Thracology, which was held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, held a symposium done by Minister of Education and Science Dr. W.J. Deetman entitled "Thracians and Mycenaeans". This event was organized to help bring more discussions about the possible ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic interrelations between Thracians and Hellenes...

Europe's oldest script was found in Thraki, in the form of ancient tablets in present day southern Bulgaria. The tablets, unearthed near the Southern town of Kardzhali, are over 35-centuries old, and bear the ancient script of the Cretan (Minoan) civilization, according to scientists from the University of Heidelberg, who examined the findings. This is the Cretan writing, also known as Linear A script, which dates back to XV-XIV century B.C. Linear A, is ancestor to both Linear B (Mycenaean) and ancient Cypriot writing systems.

[nkycincinnatikid]

Spent an afternoon in Split waiting for a ferry. Diocletans mansion is the backbone and part of the fabric of that major city.
Always enjoy your posts btw.

[SunkenCiv]

;’)

[SunkenCiv]

Worth reading about, not worth its own topic:

Rich archaeological findings in Logas region -- The riverside region of Logas, in Elati, northwest Greece, was a residential settlement until the Hellenistic Period while the first dwellings date back to the Neolithic Period, based on the findings unearthed during excavations conducted for the Ilarion Dam that is under construction. The archaeological site spans an area of more than 455 stremma and this year's excavations focused on Bronze Age and Neolithic Period findings that include, among others, 81 pottery items, 24 clay statuettes and tools. The findings will be presented at the 23rd Scientific Meeting on the Archaeological Work in Macedonia and Thrace to be held at Thessaloniki Aristotle University (AUTH).

[SunkenCiv]

So, you were planning to split from town using the ferry? ;’)

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

So that’s what’s in my backyard!

[colorado tanker]

So, after Diocletian split the Empire, he split for Split?

That's a lot of splittle.

[SunkenCiv]

I wonder if that’s how the town got its name? [gee golly willickers face]

[colorado tanker]

OK, you piqued my curiosity.

The town name derives from the name of the original Greek colony, Aspálathos or Spálathos. The Romans made that Spalatum, which in the Medieval dialect became Spalato. The South Slavs called it Split in their language.

The English word derives from a Medieval Dutch word, Splitten.

So, it's just coincidence, but one that makes for lots of double entendres and puns. :-))