Four Chalcolithic graves (c.4,500-4,200 BC) containing the skeletons of three adults and one child have been found by archaeologists beneath a former school-yard in the town of Kamenovo, Razgrad District, in Northeast Bulgaria, local news sources report.
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| The site of the archaeological excavations in the former school yard in the town of Kamenovo in Northeastern Bulgaria, with the skeletons from the newly found Chalcolithic necropolis visible on the ground [Credit: Radka Mincheva/Darik Razgrad] |
On
top of one of the adult skeletons, the
archaeologists found flint tools and ceramic bowls painted in black, red, and white.
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| A total of four Chalcolithic graves have been found in the necropolis in Kamenovo so far [Credit: Darik Razgrad] |
In the other two adult graves,
the funeral goods consisted of flint tools, while in the
child’s grave the researchers found three beads made from Spondylus mollusks placed on top of the skeleton.
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| Three beads from the Spondylus mollusk harvested in the Aegean found in the child’s grave in the Chalcolithic necropolis in Bulgaria’s Kamenovo [Credit: Darik Razgrad] |
According to lead archaeologist Yavor Boyadzhiev, the discovery of the
Spondylus beads is evidence of the trade relations with the Aegean coast during this period.
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| One of the four graves found in the Chalcolithic necropolis in Bulgaria’s Kamenovo [Credit: Darik Razgrad] |
The skeletons, ranging between 167 and 173 cm (5 feet 5 inches – 5 feet 8 inches) in height, belonged to individuals of the Mediterranean type who probably came from the region of Anatolia but mixed with a population that originated north of the Danube River, in today’s Romania.
Source: Archaeology in Bulgaria [September 22, 2015]
