Ancient Roman Necropolis in Bulgaria Yields Precious Artefacts and Insights

In a remarkable discovery near the village of Nova Varbovka in North Central Bulgaria, a pair of ancient Roman stone-lined tombs were uncovered by accident in the autumn of 2023. This significant find has brought to light an array of precious artefacts, including jewellery, coins, and vessels dating back to between 200 and 250 AD. The Veliko Tarnovo Regional Museum of History shared these details in a press release, as reported by the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA).

The larger of the two graves was found to contain the remains of a woman aged around 45-49 and a man aged between 50 and 60, buried together. The smaller grave held the skeleton of a 1-2-year-old child. Anthropologists from the National Institute for Experimental Morphology, Pathology, and Anthropology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences have analyzed the remains and suggest that the adults were likely related and that the boy passed away before his parents. It is believed that these individuals were wealthy landowners from the Roman city of Nicopolis ad Istrum, possibly owning a summer mansion in the area.

The family necropolis revealed numerous funerary gifts, including a pair of exquisite gold earrings, a gilded beaded pendant, a silver-plated fibula made from several types of metal, a ceramic lamp, bronze coins, an intact ceramic wine amphora, and two glass lachrymariums (receptacles for mourners' tears). A particularly rare and valuable find was a bronze medallion from the child's tomb featuring Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, also known as Caracalla, who reigned from 198 to 217 AD. The medallion depicts a scene from the Emperor's visit in 214 AD to Pergamum seeking healing from the god of medicine, Asclepius. Notably, this medallion was not used for monetary circulation due to its size and bears inscriptions in ancient Greek.

The construction of the tombs indicates that those buried there were of high social status. According to archaeologist Kaloyan Chakarov, who explored the site alongside colleagues Nedko Elenski and Mihaela Tomanova for a month in December 2023, only the affluent could afford graves lined with bricks, stones, and mortar, plastered inside and sealed with huge limestone slabs.

The discovery came about when a tractor driver ploughing a crop field near Nova Varbovka stumbled upon the necropolis last autumn. Upon seeing exposed human bones, he alerted the police under the assumption that a crime had been committed. Subsequent investigations revealed that the burials dated back to the Roman era, prompting emergency excavations.

This find not only sheds light on the burial practices and social hierarchies of ancient Roman society but also adds valuable knowledge to our understanding of Roman presence in Bulgaria. The artefacts recovered offer insights into the cultural and economic aspects of life during this period. As investigations continue, further discoveries may reveal more about the lives of these ancient inhabitants.

With inputs from WAM