Golden treasures of a Ancient civilization from the 3rd millennium BC.

In 2004, by a mere chance, archaeology received a precious gift – the treasure from the village of Dabene, Karlovo, Bulgaria.

In the spring of 2004, near the town of Sopot, an archaeological expedition was making excavations in a Roman roadside service station, located on an old Roman road that passed nearby. One day two archaeologists entered a shop in the town and noticed a woman wearing a golden necklace reminding them of ancient gold. She told them that her husband came across it while ploughing a field in Dabene. The man showed them the place and soon after that the archaeologists started their excavations. In the period 2004-2007 over 20 000 gold jewellery items from 18 to 23 carats were found – beads, necklace rings, earrings, spirals, hairpins, little golden amulets in the form of an adze and other exquisitely wrought ornaments – the smallest are with a diameter of 1,5 mm. That’s an unthinkable size according to our idea of the technologies of the Bronze Age. The items date from the end of the 3rd millennium BC. It turned out that a highly developed civilization inhabited the Karlovo Valley at that time and according to some scientist the precious metal was exported to the entire Middle and Southern Europe. And the gold was wrought by local master goldsmiths who lived in these regions. Especially interesting is the place itself, where the items were found. The archaeologists knew about a prehistoric settlement from the 4th-3rd millennium BC but it was located several kilometers from here. On the place of the findings there are no traces of a settlement or buildings, of fires, and there are no clues that this is an ancient necropolis. The finds are made in hundreds of little mounds in the field itself. Ceramic, bronze and silver vessels, as well as a golden plaque were found in them. Probably the items were buried as a sacrifice to an unknown deity, most likely to the Great Mother Goddess of the Thracians. The vessels were put in the ground, the golden necklaces were torn and scattered above them and then covered with earth as a gift to the Goddess.

By the excavations in 2006 a unique golden dagger or poniard was found – alloy of gold, platinum and other metals with a high purity of the gold. The golden dagger is 16 cm (6.3 inch) long. Its point end is cut and sharpened and at the butt end there are two holes used for fastening the haft, made of bone or wood. The alloy that it was made of is so hard that the dagger remained sharp through the millennia and the gold content is so high that it was preserved in a perfect condition without patina. It is one of a kind in the entire world. Scientists assume that it represented the power of its owner and most probably belonged to a ruler or a priest.

At the time of the excavations in 2007, in a deep and stone-filled pit, were found eight different in kind and size ceramic vessels, one cup and a golden spiral made of high quality gold and interestingly wrought – from a narrow golden pipe.

The research continues. We don’t know what more will be found out about the ancient civilization that existed here, but the Dabene finds have already changed the ideas of the archaeologists and scientists regarding the forming of the European civilization. They threw light on the influence of this ancient civilization, existed on the territory of contemporary Bulgaria, on the development of the European civilization. The Dabene treasure gives the connection between the age old civilization of the Varna Culture and the treasures from the village of Hotnitsa from the 5th millennium BC, which were somehow isolated in time until now, with no relation to the Thracian tribes and their masterpieces from the better known 1st and 2nd millennia BC. Are these the more ancient ancestors of the Thracians, called “pre-Thracians”? What happened in the 5th millennium so they disappeared for 2 000 years? Invasions of other tribes, wars, a world cataclysm, a flood? We hope to find answers to these questions with the help of the archaeologists.

View more treasures of ancient civilizations found in Bulgaria

• Gold from Hotnitsa. Civilization from 5th millennium BC
• Chalcolithic necropolis town of Varna. Civilization from 5th millennium BC

The oldest gold treasures in the world – 5th millennium BC.

The village mound near the village of Hotnitsa dates back to the 5th millennium BC. It was 6 m wide and was discovered by chance. In 1955 by the construction works of irrigation canals, the workers unearthed one side of a mound and found clay wares and stone implements. The regional museum in Veliko Tarnovo is informed about the finds.

Archaeological excavations 1956-1959

In 1956 archaeologists from Veliko Tarnovo started excavation works. They found relatively well preserved settlement with 20 one-room dwellings. They were built of wooden stakes fixed into the ground, and walls weaved of branches and pasted over with mud. They had thatches. There were streets separating the dwellings, which were organized in blocks as residential quarters. The dwellings had a fireplace in one of the corners, plank-beds and scanty utensils, consisting of clay vessels and items of copper, bone, stone and flint. The settlement dated back to the 5th millennium BC. Totally unexpected for that time period, when people used mainly primitive instruments and objects, in one of the rooms the archaeologists found a heap of gold items, weighing about 350 g (0.80 lb). 40 rings made from wire, and 4 strangely shaped plates. The plates had openings – one bigger in the middle and 2 smaller over it, and on one of the plates – 3 little openings, forming symbolic human faces. It is supposed that these are occult items, which belonged to the priest, and he used them in cult rituals or as an amulet. The unearthed treasure became famous to the world as the Hotnitsa Golden Treasure. In 1958, the further excavations in the village, revealed a room, where many prehistoric little idols made of bone were found. Their great number and the fact that some of them were not finished suggest to the archaeologists that they came across a prehistoric workshop. The inhabitants of the settlement were forced to leave it because of a fire and it was found intact after 7 000 years.

Archaeological excavations 2000-2007

After the initial excavations near the village of Hotnitsa the researches began again and continue to the present day. Over 300 sq. m. of the northern side of the mound were unearthed for this period. The findings exceed 5000 items. 6 dwellings were examined. Especially interesting are the new gold items, copper implements, rich collection of anthropomorphous and zoomorphous sculptures. Many ceramic vessels and stone instruments were also found. In 2000 three golden plates were unearthed. One year later the archaeologists found a golden spiral and then in 2006 they came across another one. However the latter was unique and pretty interesting. It was found several cultural layers deeper than the entire Hotnitsa treasure, which together with the treasure from the Varna Chalcolithic Necropolis is qualified as the world’s oldest gold. And the depth where the spiral was found proves that it is older than «the oldest gold». That is also evident by the way it is wrought. The previously found items were drawn out, and the metal, pure natural 23,5-carat gold for the last spiral was forged. A very important fact concerning the finds in Hotnitsa is that the gold was found in its natural environment, not in tombs or necropolises. It becomes clear that the people wore the ornaments and used them in their everyday life.

The experts claim that the civilization from the 5th millennium BC, a coeval of Varna Culture, whose traces and golden jewellery were unearthed in the village of Hotnitsa, Bulgaria, is older than Egyptian and Sumerian civilizations.

View more treasures of ancient civilizations found in Bulgaria

• Chalcolithic necropolis town of Varna. Civilization from 5th millennium BC
• Treasure from Dabene. Civilization from 3th millennium BC

• on their back with the body stretched

• curled up in a ball with legs and arms tucked in, resembling the position of the embryo in mother’s womb

• symbolic burials — there were no bodies in the tombs, only burial gifts were found. (practice for paying honour to the deceased who had fallen dead far away, in battle, while travelling or for other reasons preventing the burial of the mortal remains)

Rich burial items are found by each one of the three kinds of burial. The items were intended to accompany the buried people after death. These were clay vessels, sea shells, numerous decorative objects made of precious and base metals, as well as bone human figures representing idols. In their hands were put instruments like knives, axes, chisels made of stone, copper or flint. The richest in gold items are the empty tombs of the symbolic burials. There were also vessels and instruments. Symbolic human faces made of clay surrounded by rich decoration were found in some of the tombs. In only one of the excavated tombs (Nr 43 regarding its unearthing) were found 990 gold items weighing over 1,5 kg (3.3 lb). The burial in tomb 43 was made over 4000 years BC. The unearthed remains belong to a male, about 45 years old, who was athletic and relatively tall of stature (170 cm), having in mind the normal height at that time. He had massive gold bracelets on each hand, as well as strings of sea shells and gold beads. A splendid adornment resembling a wide collar decorated his neck and chest. It consisted of gold plates and jewels. These were also sewn on to his clothes and hat. In the tomb there were also many instruments made of copper and flint, and clay vessels. All these findings evidence that this was the tomb of a noble ruler or priest and also prove the existence of a well structured hierarchical society…

Video – The treasures from Chalcholithic necropolis town of Varna

View more treasures of ancient civilizations found in Bulgaria

• Gold from Hotnitsa. Civilization from 5th millennium BC
• Gold from Dabene. Civilization from 3th millennium BC