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Here is an excerpt form her site:
After three years of excavations in the vicinity of the village of Starosel in central Bulgaria, the team of the Bulgarian archaeologist Georgi Kitov has unearthed six Thracian temples of different architecture type. Thus, Kitov assumes that all Thracian tribes built their temples in this "sacred valley". The archaeologist got world recognition in 2000 when he discovered the largest yet found Thracian temple near Starosel. The enormous temple of what is believed to be a Thracian ruler, possibly Sitalkes I, the first king of a combined Thracian empire has been dated as from the fourth or fifth century BC. The two-chamber tomb is approached by stairs and a corridor. It is surrounded by a 263-yard long wall made out of some 4,000 stone blocks and was hidden under a 20-meter high mound of earth. The stone blocks of the surrounding wall were largely undisturbed because they were fastened on the other side with iron clamps, which had lead poured over them. To the south it is crossed by a parade staircase flanked by two smaller staircases, climbing to an 11-yard roofless doorway with 5.5-yard high walls leading to the facade. The round stone wall symbolises the Sun, while the temple itself stands for the goddess of Earth. The interior consists of a rectangular entrance and a round vaulted main hall, whose ceiling is supported by 10 Doric semi-pillars, each carved with 10 vertical flutes. The inner walls are covered by ornate stone plates. The dome is decorated with a stone frieze in red, black, green and blue colours. In a neighbouring mound, archaeologists found a magnificent treasure of relics, including a large gold funerary wreath, other gold jewellery, bronze shields, helmets and swords, four silver and eight bronze vessels, ancient Greek ceramics, greaves (decorated with the royal double-edged axe symbol), scale armor, a bronze javelin tips, a quiver full of arrows with bronze tips and two sets of silver decorations for horses. A large silver applique was found in the entrance depicting a fully armed Thracian king with a beard, riding a horse, and raising a rhyton in one hand. These were dated to the fifth century BC. Other tombs were found in the vicinity, thought to be Sitalkes’ brother and cousins. One had a golden sarcophagus cover. Among the grave goods of a Thracian aristocrat in the second necropolis were 5 silver horse appliqués depicting griffins. A funeral of a high-ranking Thracian aristocrat, devotee of the Orpheus cult is the latest discovery of the archaeologists in Starosel. The rich Thracian was buried in a mound near the largest temple. In the 5th century BC, the body of the dead aristocrat was dismembered in three pieces and buried at the foot of an apparently sacred rock. At one side of it, the ancient have built a chamber with two-level roof to resemble a sanctuary. The belongings of the chieftain were arranged in that chamber. There is a full set of arms and armour including gold-washed ruff and helmet, spears, sword, shield and arrows. Except the armour, the archaeologists found silver and bronze vessels and a lot of pottery. The find that stirred the most excitement among them was a silver double-blade axe called by Thracians "labris." In Thracian civilization, it symbolized royal power. There was also a gold seal-ring engraved with an image of a horseman spearing a boar.
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Re: V zorata na Evropa i sveta - Bulgaria/linkove, [re: l]
