Description of the attraction
The Varna Necropolis is an ancient burial site accidentally discovered in the industrial zone of the city of Varna. Tellingly, the necropolis was discovered quite by accident, during work on laying a cable in 1972: one of the excavators noticed parts of ceramics and gold jewelry in the bucket bowl. Employees of the Archaeological Museum of Varna, having learned about the finds, immediately began excavations. For ten years, excavations were carried out, the area of which now reaches 7500 square meters, the total number of graves is 294. However, this area is only two-thirds of the supposed necropolis.
There were found 3000 gold items, with a total weight of more than 6 kg, as well as at least 600 samples of ceramic items.
It is often possible to hear that the Varna necropolis is also called Chalcolithic, dating it to the end of the 5th millennium BC, and it is assumed that it was used for about 200 years. However, depending on the age estimation method, the time spread is about 500 years. The antiquity of the finds in Varna can be compared in terms of culturological significance with the Egyptian and interfluvial finds. The Varna necropolis also gave its name to the culture of this region that existed before, it is called the culture of Varna.
During excavations, scientists discovered several types of burials: two types with burials of bodies in different poses, and the third type - symbolic burials - graves with missing bodies, that is, cenotaphs.
The most richly decorated graves are where people are buried lying on their backs to their full height. It is assumed that the symbolic burials were created due to the fact that it was not possible to find or deliver the body of a deceased person. Decorated copies of human heads made of clay were placed in such graves.
In addition to decorations, in each grave, scientists found samples of ceramics, as well as tools that the dead would need in the afterlife. Also among the finds are idols and talismans (anthropomorphic and zoomorphic).
