Unearthed Thracian treasure trove in Bulgarias Valley of the Kings

Satori

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Unearthed Thracian treasure trove in Bulgaria's 'Valley of the Kings'

Unearthed Thracian treasure trove in Bulgaria's 'Valley of the Kings'
October 3, 2008

GEORGI KITOV ARCHAEOLOGIST
1-3-1943 — 14-9-2008

GEORGI Kitov, who led a Bulgarian archaeological team that unearthed a hoard of treasures from ancient Thrace, said to be as important as those of Agamemnon or Tutankhamun, has died. He was 65.

The Thracians were Indo-European tribes who settled the Balkans in the third millennium BC and built a civilisation that, at its height 2400 years ago, controlled what is now Bulgaria as well as parts of Romania, Macedonia, Turkey and Greece before finally being incorporated into the Roman Empire. Little is known of their culture because they had no written language.

Greek and Roman writers tended to depict the Thracians as barbarians while acknowledging their skills as expert metal-workers and as warriors. Spartacus, the gladiator slave who led a rebellion against the Romans, was a Thracian. But they found a champion in Kitov who, for more than two decades, led small teams of poorly funded volunteers in a dogged search for archaeological evidence despite state indifference and better-equipped treasure hunters.

The find that made Kitov's name came in 2004, in Bulgaria's "Valley of the Kings", a 96-kilometre forested region in the centre of the country, dotted with burial sites of Thracian rulers. Many of these had been looted, and he reacted to a tip-off that grave robbers were at the site of a tomb dating from the mid-5th century BC near Kazanlak, 170 kilometres east of Sofia.

Kitov and his small team rushed to the scene and began to dig. They unearthed a life-sized mask made of solid gold (he is pictured with the mask), positioned next to a dismembered and chopped-up skeleton. Quite possibly the portrait of a Thracian king, Teres I (475-445 BC), it proved to be just the first item in a vast haul of treasure.

Other items included a gold ring engraved with the figure of an athlete, a near-complete set of armour, as well as bronze arrowheads, spearheads, swords, breastplates and 130 pieces of magnificent jewellery. It was one of the most sensational finds of the last half-century. The mask, Kitov felt, was more remarkable even than that of Agamemnon: "The Mask of Agamemnon was made of gold foil and weighs only 60 grams, while this mask weighs 690 grams and is of solid gold."

It is thought that it may have been used in a ritual described in ancient Greek texts: the Thracian ruler would drink wine from a gold mask at public occasions and then place it over his face.

Kitov was feted by the Bulgarian government, but his rough methods, including the use of earthmovers below the topsoil, were controversial among archaeologists. His response: he needed to work quickly to beat looters.

Kitov was born in Dupnitsa, in south-west Bulgaria. He took a degree in history from Sofia University in 1966, and went on to study art history at Leningrad State University. His career culminated in an appointment as associate professor at Sofia's Institute of Archaeology.

Kitov began his excavations in the "Valley of the Kings" in 1992, and led expeditions that have greatly enhanced wider understanding of ancient Thrace. The sites he excavated include a temple complex at Starosel and tombs at Strelcha and Haskovo. He was the author of more than 200 articles and monographs on the history, culture, and religion of the Ancient Thracians.

At the time of his death, Kitov was working on the possible tomb of the Thracian King Seuthes III (circa 330-300BC), near Starosel.

Satori on Tnet notes: Sounds like primo hunting grounds. Grab your passports, detectors and shovels.........
 

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